Monascus red pigment overproduction by coculture with recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae secreting glucoamylase

Abstract

In liquid cultures using sucrose media, the coculture of Monascus with recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae expressing the glucoamylase gene from Aspergillus niger enhanced red pigment production by approx. 19％, compared with the coculture of wild type S. cerevisiae. Coculture with recombinant S. cerevisiae was more effective than with wild type S. cerevisiae for Monascus red pigment production. Cocultures of Monascus with commercial amylases of Aspergillus also induced high production of pigment and morphological changes in a solid culture using sucrose media.