Changing oxidoreduction potential to improve water-soluble yellow pigment production with Monascus ruber CGMCC 10910

BACKGROUND: Monascus pigments are widely used in the food and pharmaceutical industries due to their safety to human health. Our previous study found that glucose concentration induced extracellular oxidoreduction potential (ORP) changes could influence extracellular water-soluble yellow pigment production by Monascus ruber CGMCC 10910 in submerged fermentation. In this study, H(2)O(2) and dithiothreitol (DTT) were used to change the oxidoreduction potential for investigating the effects of oxidative or reductive substances on Monascus yellow pigment production by Monascus ruber CGMCC 10910. RESULTS: The extracellular ORP could be controlled by H(2)O(2) and DTT. Both cell growth and extracellular water-soluble yellow pigment production were enhanced under H(2)O(2)-induced oxidative (HIO) conditions and were inhibited under dithiothreitol-induced reductive conditions. By optimizing the amount of H(2)O(2) added and the timing of the addition, the yield of extracellular water-soluble yellow pigments significantly increased and reached a maximum of 209 AU, when 10 mM H(2)O(2) was added on the 3rd day of fermentation with M. ruber CGMCC 10910. Under HIO conditions, the ratio of NADH/NAD+ was much lower than that in the control group, and the expression levels of relative pigment biosynthesis genes were up-regulated; moreover, the activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) was increased while 6-phosphofructokinase (PFK) activity was inhibited. CONCLUSIONS: Oxidative conditions induced by H(2)O(2) increased water-soluble yellow pigment accumulation via up-regulation of the expression levels of relative genes and by increasing the precursors of pigment biosynthesis through redirection of metabolic flux. In contrast, reductive conditions induced by dithiothreitol inhibited yellow pigment accumulation. This experiment provides a potential strategy for improving the production of Monascus yellow pigments. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12934-017-0828-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.