Regulation of Carotenoid Biosynthesis in Photosynthetic Organs

Abstract

A substantial proportion of the dazzling diversity of colors displayed by living organisms throughout the tree of life is determined by the presence of carotenoids, which most often provide distinctive yellow, orange and red hues. These metabolites play fundamental roles in nature that extend far beyond their importance as pigments. In photosynthetic lineages, carotenoids are essential to sustain life, since they have been exploited to maximize light harvesting and protect the photosynthetic machinery from photooxidative stress. Consequently, photosynthetic organisms have evolved several mechanisms that adjust the carotenoid metabolism to efficiently cope with constantly fluctuating light environments. This chapter will focus on the current knowledge concerning the regulation of the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway in leaves, which are the primary photosynthetic organs of most land plants.

Transcriptome sequence and physiological analysis revealed the roles of carotenoids and photosynthesis under low temperature combined with low-light stress on pepper (Capsicum annuum L.)

“…Carotenoids are a large group of naturally present pigments associated with vital plant physiological processes, photooxidative activities, and membrane stabilizers (Havaux 2014, Llorente 2016. Although previous studies have elucidated that carotenoids can alleviate the damage induced by stress, the regulatory mechanisms have received minimal attention.…”

Population Transcriptomes Reveal the Interspecific Adaptive Genetic Differentiation of Liriodendron by Landscape Genetics

“…In addition, the phosphatidylinositol signaling system pathway relates to a multitude of cellular processes with key importance for plant function, development and regulation of energy, carbon metabolism and stress response [73][74][75]. The ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis pathway is involved in the immune response in Arabidopsis [76], and the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway plays important roles in fruit development, petal coloration and photosynthesis [77][78][79]. The alpha-linolenic acid metabolism pathway relates to salt tolerance and cold stress [80,81], and the phagosome pathway is involved in environmental stress [82].…”

The Multiplanetary Future of Plant Synthetic Biology

“…Additionally, since UV is potentially damaging to DNA, RNA, proteins, and cellular metabolism, enhancing UV-tolerance would likely result in a better plant performance in general [ 22 ]. Along the same lines, as photooxidative stress occurs when the absorbed light energy exceeds that used in photosynthesis, engineering improved photoprotection mechanisms could further enhance the performance of the light-harvesting machinery [ 23 ], as recently demonstrated in tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum ) plants [ 24 ].…”

“…Unlike plants, which synthesize carotenoids in their plastids [ 75 , 76 ], humans do not produce carotenoids and have to incorporate them in their diets [ 73 ]. Because carotenoid accumulation in plants is the result of multiple processes [ 23 , 76 , 77 ], the combination of various bioengineering strategies, from manipulating the carotenoid biosynthesis and storage mechanisms to installing alternative carotenogenic pathways [ 76 , 78 , 79 , 80 , 81 ] holds potential to take the carotenoid content of crops to a new level. From a holistic point of view, the ultimate synthetic biology approach to make the most of plant-based food on Mars would be to develop multi-biofortified crops with improved nutritional properties [ 82 , 83 , 84 ] and enhanced quality traits (e.g., extended shelf life and reduced allergenicity) [ 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 ].…”