I-Corps: Production of the red carotenoid astaxanthin by marine copepod

I-Corps：海洋桡足类动物生产红色类胡萝卜素虾青素

• 批准号: 1722484
• 负责人: Geoffrey Hill
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: Auburn University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2017-01-15 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1722484&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Production; red; carotenoid; astaxanthin

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is a genetically engineered strain of copepods (small aquatic crustaceans) that hyperproduce the natural red carotenoid, astaxanthin. Astaxanthin is an especially economically important pigment used in the aquaculture, nutraceutical, and cosmetic industries. Astaxanthin can be made synthetically but there is increasing demand for naturally sourced astaxanthin. Currently, the market value of natural astaxanthin for aquaculture feed is approximately $2000/kg and the nutraceutical market value for natural astaxanthin is alomst $15,000/kg. Recent estimates of the global astaxanthin market size are at more than 250 tons in 2014 and a projected compound annual growth rate of over 7% from 2016 to 2023. This technology provides two main benefits to customers: a natural source of astaxanthin at a potentially lower cost than current sources and potential for future engineering to further increase astaxanthin production and reduce production costs.This I-Corps project will explore the market potential of genetically engineered lineages of the marine copepod Tigriopus californicus that produced up to 80% more natural astaxanthin than wild copepods. Copepods are tiny crustaceans related to shrimp and are natural component of marine fish diets. This technology is an improvement over the current sources because copepods potentially produce more red pigment at a lower production cost, and it has been demonstrated that genetic engineering for increased astaxanthin production is feasible. This I-Corps project aims to evaluate the market opportunities for the technology through customer discovery interviews that will result in customer feedback that provides a better understanding of the requirements for commercialization. Additionally, this project has the potential to lead to significant progress in research on natural pigment production for commercial applications.

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是一种基因工程的桡足类动物(小型水生甲壳类动物)，它能大量产生天然的红色类胡萝卜素-虾青素。虾青素是一种特别重要的经济色素，用于水产养殖、营养食品和化妆品行业。虾青素可以合成，但对天然来源的虾青素的需求越来越大。目前，用于水产养殖饲料的天然虾青素的市场价值约为2000美元/公斤，天然虾青素的营养食品市场价值也接近15,000美元/公斤。最近对2014年全球虾青素市场规模的估计超过250吨，2016年至2023年的复合年增长率预计超过7%。这项技术为客户提供了两个主要好处：一是以潜在低于当前来源的成本获得虾青素的天然来源，二是未来工程进一步提高虾青素产量和降低生产成本的潜力。这项i-Corps项目将探索通过基因工程培育的海洋桡足类虎脚类虾青素的市场潜力，该基因工程系的虾青素产量比野生桡足类高达80%。桡足类是与虾有亲缘关系的小型甲壳类动物，是海鱼饲料的天然成分。这项技术是对现有来源的改进，因为桡足类有可能以较低的生产成本生产更多的红色素，而且已经证明通过基因工程提高虾青素产量是可行的。这个i-Corps项目旨在通过客户发现访谈来评估这项技术的市场机会，这些访谈将导致客户反馈，从而更好地了解商业化的要求。此外，该项目有可能在商业应用的天然颜料生产研究方面取得重大进展。