Isolation and Characterization of a Yellow Xanthophyll Pigment-Producing Marine Bacterium, Erythrobacter sp. SDW2 Strain, in Coastal Seawater

Xanthophylls, a yellow pigment belonging to the carotenoid family, have attracted much attention for industrial applications due to their versatile nature. We report the isolation of a homo xanthophyll pigment-producing marine bacterium, identified as the Erythrobacter sp. SDW2 strain, from coastal seawater. The isolated Erythrobacter sp. SDW2 strain can produce 263 +/- 12.9 mg/L (89.7 +/- 5.4 mg/g dry cell weight) of yellow xanthophyll pigment from 5 g/L of glucose. Moreover, the xanthophyll pigment produced by the SDW2 strain exhibits remarkable antioxidative activities, confirmed by the DPPH (73.4 +/- 1.4%) and ABTS (84.9 +/- 0.7%) assays. These results suggest that the yellow xanthophyll pigment-producing Erythrobacter sp. SDW2 strain could be a promising industrial microorganism for producing marine-derived bioactive compounds with potential for foods, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.

Automated summary

In this study, a yellow xanthophyll pigment-producing marine bacterium, identified as the Erythrobacter sp. SDW2 strain, was isolated from coastal seawater. The SDW2 strain can efficiently produce yellow xanthophyll pigment and exhibits remarkable antioxidative activities. These results suggest that the SDW2 strain could be a promising industrial microorganism for producing marine-derived bioactive compounds.