ABSTRACT
Lycopene—a kind of important active compound of caroteinoids, is greatly beneficial to human health with its diverse biological functions. With the elucidation of lycopene biosynthetic pathway and cloning genes of relative enzymes from microorganisms, it is possible to regulate lycopene biosynthesis via genetic engineering. The biosynthesis pathways of lycopene and gene cloning of lycopene biosynthetic enzymes in microorganisms were reviewed, and gene engineering strains documented in previous works including: E.coli and yeast constructed by genetic recombination, mold strains enhanced the ability of producing lycopene by gene manipulation were summarized. At last, compared with the present methods, the problems existed in the process of construction were pointed out.