carotenoid biosynthesis
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2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prateek Gupta ◽  
Joseph Hirschberg

Carotenoids comprise the most widely distributed natural pigments. In plants, they play indispensable roles in photosynthesis, furnish colors to flowers and fruit and serve as precursor molecules for the synthesis of apocarotenoids, including aroma and scent, phytohormones and other signaling molecules. Dietary carotenoids are vital to human health as a source of provitamin A and antioxidants. Hence, the enormous interest in carotenoids of crop plants. Over the past three decades, the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway has been mainly deciphered due to the characterization of natural and induced mutations that impair this process. Over the year, numerous mutations have been studied in dozens of plant species. Their phenotypes have significantly expanded our understanding of the biochemical and molecular processes underlying carotenoid accumulation in crops. Several of them were employed in the breeding of crops with higher nutritional value. This compendium of all known random and targeted mutants available in the carotenoid metabolic pathway in plants provides a valuable resource for future research on carotenoid biosynthesis in plant species.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Santana-Molina ◽  
Valentina Henriques ◽  
Damaso Hornero-Méndez ◽  
Damien P. Devos ◽  
Elena Rivas-Marin

Squalene is mostly associated with the biosynthesis of polycyclic triterpenes. Although there have been suggestions that squalene could be involved in the biosynthesis of carotenoids, functionally and evolutionarily related to polycyclic triterpenes, evidence of this 'squalene route' in nature was lacking. We demonstrate that planctomycetes synthesize C30 carotenoids via squalene and that this 'squalene route' is widely distributed in Bacteria. We also investigated the functional roles of hopanoids and carotenoids in Planctomycetes and show that their protective functions under stress conditions are complementary. Our evolutionary analyses suggest that the C30 carotenoid biosynthetic pathway is the most ancestral, with a potential origin in Firmicutes or Planctomycetes . In addition, we propose an evolutionary scenario to explain the diversification of the different carotenoid and squalene pathways. Together, these results improve the evolutionary contextualization of these molecules. Likewise, the widespread occurrence of the squalene route in bacteria increases the functional repertoire of squalene.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Namraj Dhami ◽  
Barry J Pogson ◽  
David T Tissue ◽  
Christopher I Cazzonelli

Abstract Background: Plastid-derived metabolites can signal control over nuclear gene expression, chloroplast biogenesis, and chlorophyll biosynthesis. Norflurazon (NFZ) inhibition of carotenoid biosynthesis in seedlings can elicit a protoporphyrin retrograde signal that controls chlorophyll and chloroplast biogenesis. Recent evidence reveals that plastid development can be regulated by carotenoid cleavage products called apocarotenoids. The key steps in carotenoid biosynthesis and catabolism that generate apocarotenoid signalling metabolites in foliar tissues remains to be elucidated. Here, we established an Arabidopsis foliar pigment-based bioassay using detached rosettes to differentiate plastid signalling processes in young expanding leaves containing dividing cells with active chloroplast biogenesis, from fully expanded leaves containing mature chloroplasts. Results: We demonstrate that environmental (extended darkness and cold exposure) as well as chemical (norflurazon; NFZ) inhibition of carotenoid biosynthesis can reduce chlorophyll levels in young, but not older leaves following a 24 h of rosette treatment. Mutants that disrupted xanthophyll accumulation, phytohormone biosynthesis (abscisic acid and strigolactone), or enzymatic carotenoid cleavage, did not alter chlorophyll levels in young or old leaves. Perturbations in acyclic cis-carotene biosynthesis revealed that disruption of CAROTENOID ISOMERASE (CRTISO), but not ZETA-CAROTENE ISOMERASE (Z-ISO) activity, reduced chlorophyll levels in young but not older leaves of plants growing under a long photoperiod. NFZ-induced inhibition of PHYTOENE DESATURASE (PDS) activity triggered phytoene accumulation more so in younger relative to older leaves from both WT and the crtiso mutant, indicating a continued substrate supply from the methylerythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway for carotenogenesis. NFZ treatment of WT and crtiso mutant rosettes reveal similar, additive, and opposite effects on individual pigment accumulation.Conclusion: The Arabidopsis foliar pigment-based bioassay was used to differentiate signalling events elicited by environmental, chemical, genetic, and combinations thereof, that control chlorophyll biosynthesis. Genetic perturbations that impaired xanthophyll biosynthesis and/or carotenoid catabolism did not affect chlorophyll biosynthesis. The lack of CAROTENOID ISOMERISATION generated a signal that rate-limited chlorophyll accumulation, but not phytoene biosynthesis in young Arabidopsis leaves exposed to a long photoperiod. Findings generated using this new foliar pigment bioassay implicate that carotenoid isomerisation and NFZ elicit different signalling pathways to control chlorophyll homeostasis in young emerging leaves.


Genes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 2027
Author(s):  
Wenxue Cao ◽  
Peng Wang ◽  
Limei Yang ◽  
Zhiyuan Fang ◽  
Yangyong Zhang ◽  
...  

Carotenoids are natural functional pigments produced by plants and microorganisms and play essential roles in human health. Cabbage (Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata L.) is an economically important vegetable in terms of production and consumption. It is highly nutritious and contains β-carotene, lutein, and other antioxidant carotenoids. Here, we systematically analyzed carotenoid biosynthetic genes (CBGs) on the whole genome to understand the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway in cabbage. In total, 62 CBGs were identified in the cabbage genome, which are orthologs of 47 CBGs in Arabidopsis thaliana. Out of the 62 CBGs, 46 genes in cabbage were mapped to nine chromosomes. Evolutionary analysis of carotenoid biosynthetic orthologous gene pairs among B. oleracea, B. rapa, and A. thaliana revealed that orthologous genes of B. oleracea underwent a negative selection similar to that of B. rapa. Expression analysis of the CBGs showed functional differentiation of orthologous gene copies in B. oleracea and B. rapa. Exogenous phytohormone treatment suggested that ETH, ABA, and MeJA can promote some important CBGs expression in cabbage. Phylogenetic analysis showed that BoPSYs exhibit high conservatism. Subcellular localization analysis indicated that BoPSYs are located in the chloroplast. This study is the first to study carotenoid biosynthesis genes in cabbage and provides a basis for further research on carotenoid metabolic mechanisms in cabbage.


Marine Drugs ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 713
Author(s):  
Yuanyuan Ren ◽  
Han Sun ◽  
Jinquan Deng ◽  
Junchao Huang ◽  
Feng Chen

Microalgae are excellent biological factories for high-value products and contain biofunctional carotenoids. Carotenoids are a group of natural pigments with high value in social production and human health. They have been widely used in food additives, pharmaceutics and cosmetics. Astaxanthin, β-carotene and lutein are currently the three carotenoids with the largest market share. Meanwhile, other less studied pigments, such as fucoxanthin and zeaxanthin, also exist in microalgae and have great biofunctional potentials. Since carotenoid accumulation is related to environments and cultivation of microalgae in seawater is a difficult biotechnological problem, the contributions of salt stress on carotenoid accumulation in microalgae need to be revealed for large-scale production. This review comprehensively summarizes the carotenoid biosynthesis and salinity responses of microalgae. Applications of salt stress to induce carotenoid accumulation, potentials of the Internet of Things in microalgae cultivation and future aspects for seawater cultivation are also discussed. As the global market share of carotenoids is still ascending, large-scale, economical and intelligent biotechnologies for carotenoid production play vital roles in the future microalgal economy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenrui Zhen ◽  
Yuchen Liu ◽  
Yujing Shao ◽  
Yanbo Ma ◽  
Yuanyuan Wu ◽  
...  

The prebiotics- and probiotics-mediated positive modulation of the gut microbiota composition is considered a useful approach to improve gut health and food safety in chickens. This study explored the effects of yeast β-glucan (YG) supplementation on intestinal microbiome and metabolites profiles as well as mucosal immunity in older hens. A total of 256 43-week-old hens were randomly assigned to two treatments, with 0 and 200 mg/kg of YG. Results revealed YG-induced downregulation of toll-like receptors (TLRs) and cytokine gene expression in the ileum without any effect on the intestinal barrier. 16S rRNA analysis claimed that YG altered α- and β-diversity and enriched the relative abundance of class Bacilli, orders Lactobacillales and Enterobacteriales, families Lactobacillaceae and Enterobacteriaceae, genera Lactobacillus and Escherichia–Shigella, and species uncultured bacterium-Lactobacillus. Significant downregulation of cutin and suberin, wax biosynthesis, atrazine degradation, vitamin B6 metabolism, phosphotransferase system (PTS), steroid degradation, biosynthesis of unsaturated fatty acids, aminobenzoate degradation and quorum sensing and upregulation of ascorbate and aldarate metabolism, C5-branched dibasic acid metabolism, glyoxylate and dicarboxylate metabolism, pentose and glucuronate interconversions, steroid biosynthesis, carotenoid biosynthesis, porphyrin and chlorophyll metabolism, sesquiterpenoid and triterpenoid biosynthesis, lysine degradation, and ubiquinone and other terpenoid-quinone biosyntheses were observed in YG-treated hens, as substantiated by the findings of untargeted metabolomics analysis. Overall, YG manifests prebiotic properties by altering gut microbiome and metabolite profiles and can downregulate the intestinal mucosal immune response of breeder hens.


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