| Abstract: | We describe a procedure for the selection of β-carotenerich mutants of the halotolerant alga Dunaliella bardawil Ben-Amotz & Avron. Under normal growth conditions the isolated mutants had a several-fold higher content of β-carotene than the wild type. Under carotene-induction conditions, the mutants also possessed a higher β-carotene content than the wild type. Both the production rate of phytoene and the conversion rate of phytoene to lycopene and β-carotene were accelerated in the mutants. Cycloheximide, which (in the wild type) inhibits the inductive synthesis of the proteins required for β-carotene production, had a much smaller effect on β-carotene biosynthesis in the mutants. We suggest that the mutants are affected in the regulatory path, which controls the induction of high β-carotene production in Dunaliella. |
