GC-MS profiling of carotenoid pigment produced by Gordonia terrae

Abstract

Carotenoids are one of the most essential groups of naturally occurring lipid-soluble pigments that display great biological activities, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and provitamin A activities. Carotenoids are widely applied in various industries due to their advantageous health effects. Microbial carotenoid synthesis, therefore, has attracted increasing attention in recent years. In the present study, halophiles isolated and characterised from the Solar saltern of Mulund, Mumbai, Maharashtra, were determined to be a strain of G. terrae based on its 16S rRNA gene sequence. The strain G. terrae has the ability to synthesise and accumulate the intracellular pigments, which was identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR). Findings suggested that G. terrae can actively grow and efficiently synthesise carotenoids. GC-MS results revealed that the pigment sample contains nearly 17 different compounds. 17 recorded compounds are terpenoids and organic pigments. These compounds were recorded for the first time from the Solar saltern of Mulund, Mumbai, Maharashtra. Therefore, the new bacterial strain isolated and characterised from the Solar saltern of Mulund, Mumbai, showed a high potential bioresource for the commercial production of natural carotenoids.