Development of a Whole-Cell Biocatalytic System for Lycopene Production in <i>Escherichia</i><i> </i><i>coli</i>

Lycopene is one of the most well-known carotenoids in nature due to its high antioxidant properties and wide health benefits. Due to a wide range of applications in food, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals, demand for lycopene has grown significantly and its unmet need requires production at large scale. Conventionally, lycopene extraction from natural sources suffers from extensive downstream processing and poor yield. Industrial processes using tomato pomace or peels can achieve somewhat higher concentrations, but overall yields remain modest compared with the demand for nutraceutical?grade lycopene. Therefore, the development of alternative process including microbial based production of lycopene are being explored. <i>Escherichia coli</i> stands out as a preferred host due to its rapid growth, well-characterized genetics, and amenability to engineering. It can grow on cheap carbon sources such as glucose, glycerol, or agricultural waste, which lowers production costs for bio?based chemicals and natural products. In this study, we engineered <i>E. coli</i> for whole-cell biocatalytic lycopene production using a two-plasmid system. We co-expressed enzymes from the mevalonate pathway to boost isoprenoid precursors, alongside lycopene biosynthetic genes (e.g., <i>crtE</i>, <i>crtB</i>, <i>crtI</i>) that channel these intermediates into lycopene. This platform converts glucose directly into lycopene through multi-step biosynthesis, bypassing extraction bottlenecks. Our approach highlights <i>E. coli</i>'s potential as an efficient, sustainable biocatalyst for industrial carotenoid production.