ABSTRACT
The ocean is the habitat of a great number of organisms with different characteristics. Compared to terrestrial microorganisms, marine microorganisms also represent a vast and largely unexplored reservoir of bioactive compounds with diverse industrial applications like terrestrial microorganisms. This review examines the properties and potential applications of products derived from marine microorganisms, including bacteriocins, enzymes, exopolysaccharides, and pigments, juxtaposing them in some cases against their terrestrial counterparts. We discuss the distinct characteristics that set marine-derived products apart, including enhanced stability and unique structural features such as the amount of uronic acid and sulfate groups in exopolysaccharides. Further, we explore the uses of these marine-derived compounds across various industries, ranging from food and pharmaceuticals to cosmetics and biotechnology. This review also presents a broad description of biotechnologically important compounds produced by bacteria isolated from marine environments, some of them with different qualities compared to their terrestrial counterparts.
ABSTRACT
Cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase) is an enzyme that produces cyclodextrins (CDs) from starch and related carbohydrates, producing a mixture of α-, ß-, and γ-CDs in different amounts. CGTase production, mainly by Bacillus sp., depends on fermentation conditions such as pH, temperature, concentration of nutrients, carbon and nitrogen sources, among others. Bacillus megaterium CGTase produces those three types of CDs, however, ß-CD should prevail. Although, waxy corn starch (CS) is used industrially to obtain CGTase and CDs because of its high amylopectin content, alternative sources such as amaranth starch (AS) could be used to accomplish those purposes. AS has high susceptibility to the amylolytic activity of CGTase because of its 80% amylopectin content. Therefore, the aim of this work was evaluate the AS as carbon source for CGTase production by B. megaterium in a submerged fermentation. Afterwards, the CGTase was purified partially and its activity to synthesize α-, ß-, and γ-CDs was evaluated using 1% AS as substrate. B. megaterium produced a 66 kDa CGTase (Topt = 50°C; pHopt = 8.0), from the early exponential growth phase which lasted 36 h. The maximum CGTase specific activity (106.62 ± 8.33 U/mg protein) was obtained after 36 h of culture. CGTase obtained with a Km = 0.152 mM and a Vmax = 13.4 µM/min yielded 40.47% total CDs using AS which was roughly twice as much as that of corn starch (CS; 24.48%). High costs to produce CDs in the pharmaceutical and food industries might be reduced by using AS because of its higher α-, ß- and γ-CDs production (12.81, 17.94, and 9.92%, respectively) in a shorter time than that needed for CS.
ABSTRACT
En el cultivo de trucha se requiere de una dieta iniciadora que contenga pigmentos como la astaxantina y la cantaxantina para proporcionar el color rosado característico de las truchas silvestres. La producción de pigmentos sintéticos no alcanza a satisfacer los requerimientos del mercado acuícola, además de tener un precio alto de venta. Por lo anterior, en el presente estudio se evaluó la acumulación de los pigmentos contenidos en los extractos de chile ancho (Capsicum annum), saponificados y esterificados, en la piel y músculo de la trucha arcoiris (Oncorhynchus mykiis). Para ello se emplearon tres tratamientos experimentales, que consistieron en la inclusión de extractos de chile saponificado, sin saponificar y de astaxantina comercial en la dieta finalizadora. En cada tratamiento se tuvieron 150 organismos con un peso promedio inicial de 150 g y dos repeticiones. Se encontró que los extractos de chile ancho, en sus dos presentaciones, pigmentaban la piel y el músculo de la trucha, sin embargo el color producido fue más claro y menos rojo que el obtenido con la dieta que incluyó astaxantina
