Lycopene Dimer Bioproduction Engineering Service

Lycopene Dimer (Lycopene epoxide dimer or similar functionalized dimers) represents a novel class of carotenoid derivatives with potential enhanced antioxidant and bioactive properties for pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications. Production challenges include Difficult chemical synthesis , which involves multiple complex steps, poor regioselectivity, and the generation of numerous inactive isomers. The final product often exhibits low activity due to inherent structural instability or contamination from these inactive chemical side products. Biosynthesis offers a cleaner, more selective pathway to produce a purer, highly active dimer.

CD Biosynsis offers a synthetic biology service focused on the efficient production of specific Lycopene Dimers using Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker's yeast). Our strategy begins with modification of lycopene synthesis pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae . This involves optimizing the MVA pathway to enhance IPP precursor flux and overexpressing a heterologous carotenoid pathway (e.g., CrtE, B, I) to maximize the concentration of the Lycopene intermediate. This high concentration is essential for the subsequent step. The core of the solution is the heterologous expression of dimerization enzyme . We introduce a specific enzyme (e.g., a novel oxidase or cyclase/synthase capable of radical coupling) that catalyzes the final, selective dimerization of two Lycopene molecules or their functionalized derivatives (e.g., epoxides) to form the desired Dimer. By controlling the substrate (Lycopene) purity and the enzyme's selectivity, we overcome the difficult chemical synthesis problem and ensure the production of the isomer with the highest activity . Our approach minimizes side reactions, offering a high-purity, scalable, and cost-effective biosynthetic route for Lycopene Dimer.

Pain Points

Developing a high-quality Lycopene Dimer product faces these key challenges:

• Difficult Chemical Synthesis: Creating specific dimers often requires complex, low-yielding, and non-selective radical coupling or multi-step epoxidation/functionalization followed by dimerization, resulting in mixtures of cis/trans isomers.
• Low Activity: The lack of selectivity in chemical synthesis results in contamination by multiple inactive isomers , which reduces the overall bioactivity and commercial value of the product.
• Lycopene Precursor Bottleneck: Achieving high Lycopene titer in yeast requires efficiently balancing multiple heterologous Crt genes and overcoming native metabolic constraints in the MVA pathway.
• Dimerization Enzyme Identification: Finding a suitable enzyme with high selectivity to catalyze the specific dimerization reaction (e.g., C-C bond formation) is a significant challenge in synthetic biology.

A successful solution must establish a high-flux Lycopene pathway and introduce a highly selective enzymatic dimerization step.

Solutions

CD Biosynsis utilizes advanced metabolic and enzyme engineering to optimize Lycopene Dimer production in S. cerevisiae:

Modification of Lycopene Synthesis Pathway in S. cerevisiae

           

We upregulate the native MVA pathway and optimize the expression of the CrtE, CrtB, and CrtI genes to achieve maximal Lycopene titer as the precursor.

Heterologous Expression of Dimerization Enzyme

We introduce and express a specific oxidase, synthase, or cyclase capable of catalyzing the selective Lycopene Dimer formation.

Competing Carotenoid Pathway Blockade

We delete or downregulate enzymes that convert Lycopene to beta-Carotene (CrtY) or Astaxanthin (CrtZ) to ensure Lycopene is available for dimerization.

Enzyme Directed Evolution

We use mutagenesis and screening on the Dimerization Enzyme to enhance its catalytic efficiency and selectivity for the desired Dimer isomer.

This systematic approach provides a dedicated, high-flux pathway ending in a selective enzymatic dimerization step.

Advantages

Our Lycopene Dimer engineering service is dedicated to pursuing the following production goals:

High Lycopene Dimer Purity

Enzymatic dimerization ensures the formation of the specific, single isomer , solving the problem of contamination by inactive isomers from chemical synthesis.

Enhanced Bioactivity

The high purity of the desired isomer guarantees maximal product activity for cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications.

Simplified Manufacturing Icon

Replacing multi-step chemical synthesis with a single, selective enzymatic step drastically reduces process complexity and cost.

Food-Grade GRAS Host Icon

Utilizing S. cerevisiae makes the final product highly suitable for the cosmetic and dietary supplement markets .

High Volumetric Productivity Icon

The engineered high-flux Lycopene pathway and optimized dimerization ensures high product titer in the final fermentation broth.

We provide a competitive, high-purity, and highly active biosynthetic route for Lycopene Dimer.

Process

Our Lycopene Dimer strain engineering service follows a rigorous, multi-stage research workflow:

• Lycopene Pathway Construction: Introduce and optimize the CrtE, B, and I gene cluster and upregulate the native MVA pathway in S. cerevisiae.
• Pathway Blockade: Delete the CrtY gene to prevent Lycopene conversion to beta-Carotene, ensuring Lycopene availability for dimerization.
• Dimerization Enzyme Identification: Identify and clone a promising Dimerization Enzyme (Oxidase/Synthase) capable of catalyzing the desired C-C coupling reaction.
• Enzyme Optimization: Perform directed evolution on the Dimerization Enzyme to maximize its catalytic efficiency and regioselectivity toward the desired Dimer.
• Functional and Titer Assays: Validate the engineered strain in fed-batch culture, measuring the final Lycopene Dimer titer, yield, and isomer purity .
• Result Report Output: Compile a detailed Experimental Report including gene modification data, enzyme characterization, and fermentation metrics (volumetric titer and conversion rate) , supporting industrial scale-up.

Technical communication is maintained throughout the process, focusing on timely feedback regarding yield and product specificity.

Explore the potential for a stable, high-purity Lycopene Dimer supply. CD Biosynsis provides customized strain and enzyme engineering solutions:

• Detailed Dimerization Selectivity Report , confirming the specific isomer produced and demonstrating the efficiency of the Dimerization Enzyme.
• Consultation on optimized extraction methods tailored for efficient recovery of the Lycopene Dimer from yeast biomass.
• Experimental reports include complete raw data on total Lycopene Dimer production (mg/L) and final product stability analysis , essential for cosmetic and pharmaceutical quality control.