Synchronous Bioproduction of Betanin and Mycoprotein in the Engineered Edible Fungus <i>Fusarium venenatum</i>

Sustainable production of edible microbial proteins and red food colorants is an important demand for future food. Therefore, creation of a chassis strain that can efficiently synthesize both products is extremely necessary and meaningful. To realize this envision, a CRISPR/Cas9-based visual multicopy integration system was successfully developed in <i>Fusarium venenatum</i>. Subsequently, the <i>de novo</i> synthesis of the red food colorant betanin was achieved in the engineered <i>F. venenatum</i> using the above system. After fermentation optimization, the final yields of betanin and mycoprotein reached 1.91 and 9.53 g/L, respectively, when the constant pH naturally decreased from 6 to 4 without the addition of acid after 48 h of fermentation. These results determine a highly suitable chassis strain for the microbial biomanufacturing of betanin, and the obtained engineered strain here is expected to expand the application prospect and improve economic returns of <i>F. venenatum</i> in the field of future food.