Monascus is a genus of mold. Among the known species of this genus, the red-pigmented Monascus purpureus is among the most important because of its use in the production of certain fermented foods in East Asia, particularly China and Japan.

Monascus
Monascus purpureus being used to make red rice wine
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Ascomycota
Class: Eurotiomycetes
Order: Eurotiales
Family: Aspergillaceae
Genus: Monascus
Tiegh. (1884)
Type species
Monascus ruber
Synonyms
  • Allescheria Sacc. & P.Syd. (1899)
  • Backusia Thirum., M.D.Whitehead & P.N.Mathur (1965)
  • Eurotiella Lindau (1900)
  • Eurotiopsis Costantin ex Laborde (1897)
  • Physomyces Harz (1890)

Species

edit

Phylogeny

edit

Phylogeny as given by Bisby et al., 2000, who put the genus into a separate family Monascaceae.[1]

Monascaceae
Monascus

Monascus kaoliang

Monascus pilosus

Monascus aurantiacus

Monascus floridanus

Monascus eremophilus

Monascus ruber

Monascus purpureus

Monascus argentinensis

Basipetospora

Xeromyces

Fraseriella

Monascus pigments and biosynthesis

edit

Monascus purpureus derives its signature red color from mosascus pigment that is composed of azaphilones or secondary fungal metabolites.[2] There are six primary compounds all with similar biosynthetic pathways, two yellow pigments, ankaflavin and monascin, two orange pigments monascorubin and rubropunctain, and two red pigments monascorubinamine and rubropunctaimine.[3] All six are produced with a combination of polyketide synthase (PKS) and fatty acid synthase (FAS) In the first step a hexekatide is formed through Type 1 PKS encoded by the Mripig A gene.[4] PKS uses the domains acyl transferase, acetyl-CoA, ketoacyl synthase, acyl transferase, acyl carrier protein and the base units of acetyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA to produce a ketone chain that undergoes Knoevenagel aldol condensations.[4] The second step is the formation of a fatty acid through the FAS pathway.[3] The β-keto acid then undergoes a trans-esterification reaction to form one of the two orange pigments. At this point the compound can either undergo reduction to form one of the yellow pigments or amination to form one of the red pigments.[2]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Catalogue of Life – 2011 Annual Checklist :: Search all names". www.catalogueoflife.org. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  2. ^ a b Agboyibor, Clement; Kong, Wei-Bao; Chen, Dong; Zhang, Ai-Mei; Niu, Shi-Quan (1 October 2018). "Monascus pigments production, composition, bioactivity and its application: A review". Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology. 16: 433–447. doi:10.1016/j.bcab.2018.09.012. ISSN 1878-8181. S2CID 139258585.
  3. ^ a b Chaudhary, Vishu; Katyal, Priya; Poonia, Anuj Kumar; Kaur, Jaspreet; Puniya, Anil Kumar; Panwar, Harsh (4 October 2021). "Natural pigment from Monascus : The production and therapeutic significance". Journal of Applied Microbiology. 133 (1): 18–38. doi:10.1111/jam.15308. ISSN 1364-5072. PMID 34569683. S2CID 237941521.
  4. ^ a b Liu, Lujie; Zhao, Jixing; Huang, Yaolin; Xin, Qiao; Wang, Zhilong (2018). "Diversifying of Chemical Structure of Native Monascus Pigments". Frontiers in Microbiology. 9: 3143. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2018.03143. ISSN 1664-302X. PMC 6308397. PMID 30622522.