''Monascus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures certain fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of spores containing fungal secondary metabolites. The spores are the dispersal units of the fungi. Not ...

. Among the known species of this genus, the red-pigmented ''

Monascus purpureus ''Monascus purpureus'' (syn. ''M. albidus'', ''M. anka'', ''M. araneosus'', ''M. major'', ''M. rubiginosus'', and ''M. vini''; , lit. "red yeast") is a species of mold that is purplish-red in color. It is also known by the names ang-khak rice mo ...

'' is among the most important because of its use in the production of certain fermented foods in

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both Geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The modern State (polity), states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. ...

, particularly China and Japan.

Species

* '' Monascus albidulus'' * '' Monascus argentinensis'' * ''

Monascus aurantiacus ''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 ...

'' * ''

Monascus barkeri ''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 ...

'' * '' Monascus eremophilus'' * '' Monascus flavipigmentosus'' * ''

Monascus floridanus ''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 ...

'' * '' Monascus fumeus'' * '' Monascus lunisporas'' * ''

Monascus mellicola ''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 ...

'' * '' Monascus mucoroides'' * '' Monascus olei'' * '' Monascus pallens'' * '' Monascus paxii'' * '' Monascus pilosus'' * ''

'' * '' Monascus recifensis'' * '' Monascus ruber'' * '' Monascus rutilus'' * '' Monascus sanguineus'' * '' Monascus vini''

Phylogeny

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

Monascus pigments and biosynthesis

'' derives its signature red color from mosascus pigment that is composed of azaphilones or secondary fungal metabolites. 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. All six are produced with a combination of

polyketide synthase Polyketides are a class of natural products derived from a precursor molecule consisting of a chain of alternating ketone (or reduced forms of a ketone) and methylene groups: (-CO-CH2-). First studied in the early 20th century, discovery, biosynth ...

(PKS) and

fatty acid synthase Fatty acid synthase (FAS) is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ''FASN'' gene. Fatty acid synthase is a multi-enzyme protein that catalyzes fatty acid synthesis. It is not a single enzyme but a whole enzymatic system composed of two iden ...

(FAS) In the first step a hexekatide is formed through Type 1 PKS encoded by the Mripig A gene. 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 condensation An aldol condensation is a condensation reaction in organic chemistry in which two carbonyl moieties (of aldehydes or ketones) react to form a β-hydroxyaldehyde or β-hydroxyketone (an aldol reaction), and this is then followed by dehydration to ...

s. The second step is the formation of a fatty acid through the FAS pathway. 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.

References

Eurotiales Eurotiomycetes genera Taxa described in 1884 {{Eurotiomycetes-stub