Argument Analysis: Bixa Orellana
Bouvier, Dogbo, and Camara studied whether it is possible to produce bixin using the microorganism E.coli. Bixin is a pigment that is only synthesized naturally by the plant Bixa Orellana (from tropical America), and it is the second pigment used in the world, for example in cosmetic, food, and pharmaceutical industries. The authors presumed that engineering genes in sink organs of plants presenting high amounts of lycopene could be an alternative to the natural occurring Bixin, which would be advantageous in the market.
Bixin is an ester largely used as a color additive since long time ago. The plant Bixa Orellana produces the compound, but due to the high value of Bixin in the market, some scientists are studying a way to synthesize the
pigment artificially. The mechanism by which the biosynthesis occur is still unknown, but carotenoids (especially lycopene) are the most probable precursors, which provided to the scientists a start point to their speculations. During the experiments, they found out that three genes catalyze the production of bixin by lycopene, so they expressed these genes in E.coli. They also tested, besides lycopene, beta-carotene and zeaxanthin, which allowed them to be more confident about which mechanism was the most likely to occur.
The study sounds well-done since they presented the reactions and complemented the characterization with chromatography, HPLC, UV-Vis, Mass Spectrum. Also, they provided a lot of details, which makes simpler to understand the hypothesis. The only part they should have explained slightly more are the main objectives. During the reading it is complicated to have a strong idea of what exactly they want from the methods and results. The next steps could be to study whether the effects of the artificial pigment for the human body are the same of the natural pigment, or if there is a difference regarding body reactions, especially regarding food industries and products.
The study is very intelligent, since the authors had to come up with many reactions and mechanisms, and at the same time assume some parts of these mechanisms to try to solve all the questions. All the details were presented, and they provided a main idea of why to study this type of pigment.
Bixin is an ester largely used as a color additive since long time ago. The plant Bixa Orellana produces the compound, but due to the high value of Bixin in the market, some scientists are studying a way to synthesize the
pigment artificially. The mechanism by which the biosynthesis occur is still unknown, but carotenoids (especially lycopene) are the most probable precursors, which provided to the scientists a start point to their speculations. During the experiments, they found out that three genes catalyze the production of bixin by lycopene, so they expressed these genes in E.coli. They also tested, besides lycopene, beta-carotene and zeaxanthin, which allowed them to be more confident about which mechanism was the most likely to occur.
The study sounds well-done since they presented the reactions and complemented the characterization with chromatography, HPLC, UV-Vis, Mass Spectrum. Also, they provided a lot of details, which makes simpler to understand the hypothesis. The only part they should have explained slightly more are the main objectives. During the reading it is complicated to have a strong idea of what exactly they want from the methods and results. The next steps could be to study whether the effects of the artificial pigment for the human body are the same of the natural pigment, or if there is a difference regarding body reactions, especially regarding food industries and products.
The study is very intelligent, since the authors had to come up with many reactions and mechanisms, and at the same time assume some parts of these mechanisms to try to solve all the questions. All the details were presented, and they provided a main idea of why to study this type of pigment.