Colorful World of Microbes: Carotenoids and Their Applications

Table 5

Microbial pigments as potential virulence agents [18] (ROS reactive oxygen species).

Pigment	Chemistry	Color	Human pathogens	Virulence functions
Staphyloxanthin	Carotenoid	Golden	Staphylococcus aureus	Antioxidant, detoxify ROS
Pyocyanin	Phenazine derived; Zwitterion	Blue; green	Pseudomonas sp.	Cytotoxicity, neutrophil apoptosis,; ciliary dysmotility, proinflammatory
Melanin	Polyacetylene or; polypyrrole polymers	Dark-brown,; black	Cryptococcus neoformans,; Wangiella dermatitidis, Sporothrix schenckii,; Sporothrix schenckii, Aspergillus sp.	Antioxidants; Antiphagocytic; Block antimicrobials
Porphyrin	Heteromacrocycle	Black	Porphyromonas gingivalis	Antioxidant, detoxify ROS
Granadaene	Ornithine; rhamno-polyene	Orange; red	Streptococcus agalactiae	Antioxidant, detoxify ROS
Violacein	Rearranged; pyrrolidone scaffold	Purple	Chromobacterium violaceum	Antioxidant, detoxify ROS
Prodigiosin	Linear tripyrrole	Red	Serratia marcescens	Immunosuppressant
Hemozoin	β-hematin aggregates	Brown-black	Plasmodium sp.	Detoxification, macrophage suppression,; proinflammatory