Nicotine has a profound influence on the carotenoid metabolism in halophilic Archaea of the class Halobacteria. In a study of Halobacterium salinarum, Haloarcula marismortui and Halorubrum sodomense, using different analytical techniques to monitor the production of different carotenoids as a function of the presence of nicotine, we showed that the formation of α-bacterioruberin was inhibited in all. In Hbt. salinarum, addition of nicotine led to a significant change in the color of the culture due to the accumulation of lycopene, in addition to the formation of bisanhydrobacterioruberin which does not differ in color from α-bacterioruberin. Very little or no lycopene was formed in Har. marismortui and in Hrr. sodomense; instead bisanhydrobacterioruberin was the only major carotenoid found in nicotine-amended cultures. The findings are discussed in the framework of the recently elucidated biochemical pathway for the formation of the different carotenoid pigments encountered in the Halobacteria.
CITATION STYLE
Oren, A., Hirschberg, J., Mann, V., & Jehlička, J. (2018). Effects of nicotine on the biosynthesis of carotenoids in halophilic Archaea (class Halobacteria): an HPLC and Raman spectroscopy study. Extremophiles, 22(3), 359–366. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-018-0995-x
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