FIG 2.

The schemes of plasmid construction and lycopene production in E. coli cells. (A) The construction of plasmids for the expression of the archaeal MVA pathway. The DNA fragments containing AMPD, PFS, PMDh-L, and PMDh-S amplified from pBAD-mUA4, pBAD-msUA4, pBAD-aUA4, and pBAD-asUA4 were inserted into pBAD-mMP3 digested with EcoRI by in vivo homologous recombination to construct pBAD-mMP7, pBAD-msMP7, pBAD-aMP7, and pBAD-asMP7, respectively. (B) The pathway of lycopene production in E. coli cells via the archaeal MVA pathway. MVL is spontaneously incorporated into E. coli cells and then hydrolyzed to give MVA. Lycopene is biosynthesized from IPP and DMAPP by the actions of endogenous E. coli farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase and exogenous carotenogenic enzymes from Pantoea ananatis, i.e., geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate synthase (CrtE), phytoene synthase (CrtB), and phytoene desaturase (CrtI).