Evaluation of carotenoid production in extremely halophilic prokaryotes isolated from Aran – Bidgol Lake

Halophilic prokaryotes are extremophiles microorganisms that growth optimally in media containing salts and often pigmented. Many of them contain high concentrations of carotenoids. Among the 15 strains of extremely halophilic prokaryotes isolated from Aran-Bidgol Lake, a hypersaline lake in center of Iran, a Gram negative coccus designated as strain AB-191 showed high capacity in the production of carotenoids in a wide range of culture medium factors. Carotenoids from this strain extracted with acetone/methanol and transferred to n-hexane. Qualitative carotenoid determination was carried out using spectrophotometric method in nm and thin layer chromatography, respectively. According to the obtained results, 300-600 absorption spectrum of strain AB-191 is similar to the absorption spectrum of α- bacterioruberin, extracted from Haloferax alexandrinus.

Evaluation of carotenoid production in extremely halophilic prokaryotes isolated from Aran – Bidgol Lake Keywords:

Bacteria , Carotenoid , Spectrophotometer , n-Hexane , TLC