Back
Scalable Biosynthesis of Melanin by the Basidiomycete Armillaria cepistipes.
Journal article

Scalable Biosynthesis of Melanin by the Basidiomycete Armillaria cepistipes.

  • Ribera J Laboratory for Applied Wood Materials , Empa , Lerchenfeldstrasse 5 , St. Gallen 9014 , Switzerland.
  • Panzarasa G Laboratory for Soft and Living Materials, Department of Materials , ETH Zürich , Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5 , Zürich 8093 , Switzerland.
  • Stobbe A Laboratory for Applied Wood Materials , Empa , Lerchenfeldstrasse 5 , St. Gallen 9014 , Switzerland.
  • Osypova A Innovative Sensor Technology, IST AG , Stegrütistrasse 14 , Ebnat-Kappel 9642 , Switzerland.
  • Rupper P Laboratory for Advanced Fibers , Empa , Lerchenfeldstrase 5 , St. Gallen 9014 , Switzerland.
  • Klose D Laboratory for Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences , ETH Zürich , Vladimir-Prelog-Weg 5 , Zürich 8093 , Switzerland.
  • Schwarze FWMR Laboratory for Applied Wood Materials , Empa , Lerchenfeldstrasse 5 , St. Gallen 9014 , Switzerland.
Show more…
  • 2018-12-14
Published in:
  • Journal of agricultural and food chemistry. - 2019
biosynthesis
eumelanin
fungal melanin
tyrosine
wood-decay fungi
Armillaria
Culture Media
Fermentation
Melanins
Tyrosine
English Natural melanin features many interesting properties, including the ability to shield electromagnetic radiation, the ability to act as scavenger for radical and reactive oxygen species and the capacity to chelate different metal ions. For these reasons, melanin is becoming increasingly relevant for the development of functional materials with potential applications in cosmetics, drug delivery, and water purification. However, the extraction and purification of melanin from conventional sources (e.g., sepia ink, hair, and wool) is inefficient and not easily scalable, hence diverting its technological applications. Some fungal species, especially wood-decay basidiomycetes, can be regarded as promising sources of melanin. In the present study, we screened different fungi in regard to their melanin-biosynthesis abilities using l-tyrosine as a precursor, and we found that an Armillaria cepistipes strain (Empa 655) produced the highest yield of melanin (27.98 g L-1). Physicochemical characterization of the obtained fungal melanin revealed a typical eumelanin structure. The method for the biosynthesis of fungal melanin we propose is efficient, scalable, and sustainable and has the potential to provide support for further technological exploitation.
Language
  • English
Open access status
closed
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/66696
Statistics
Document views: 8 File downloads: