Figure 9.

An N. advena cDNA That Encodes a Polypeptide (NaHBFD-Like) Similar in Amino Acid Sequence to the Products of the A. aestivalis hbfd1 and hbfd2 cDNAs, When Combined with the A. aestivalis cbfd2 cDNA, Leads to the Conversion of β-Carotene into Astaxanthin in Cells of E. coli.

Shown are HPLC elution profiles for extracts of E. coli cultures wherein cells contained the following plasmids: (A) pAC-BETAipi and (B) pAC-BETAipi and pCBFD2/NaHBFD-likeBad. (C) displays an HPLC elution profile for a synthetic astaxanthin standard, and (D) shows absorption spectra for the major peaks of (A) to (C). Note: The N. advena cDNA was fused, in frame, to the arabinose-inducible araBAD promoter to ensure high-level expression. Arabinose (0.2% [w/v]) was included in the growth medium for that culture containing pCBFD2/NaHBFD-likeBad. Numbers in parentheses below carotenoid names are HPLC retention times in minutes.

[See online article for color version of this figure.]