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Comparative genome characterization of Echinicola marina sp. nov., isolated from deep-sea sediment provide insight into carotenoid biosynthetic gene cluster evolution. Sci Rep 2021; 11:24188. [PMID: 34921217 PMCID: PMC8683446 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-03683-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2021] [Accepted: 12/02/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Echinicola, carotenoid-pigmented bacteria, are isolated from various hypersaline environments. Carotenoid accumulation in response to salt stress can stabilize the cell membrane in order to survive. A pink-colored strain SCS 3-6 was isolated from the deep-sea sediment of the South China Sea. Growth was found to occur at 10-45 °C. The strain could tolerate 10% (w/v) NaCl concentration and grow at pH 5-9. The complete genome of SCS 3-6 comprises 5053 putative genes with a total 5,693,670 bp and an average G + C content of 40.11 mol%. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain SCS 3-6 was affiliated with the genus Echinicola, with the closely strains were Echinicola arenosa CAU 1574T (98.29%)and Echinicola shivajiensis AK12T (97.98%). For Echinicola species with available genome sequences, pairwise comparisons for average nucleotide identity (ANI) and in silico DNA-DNA hybridization (DDH) revealed ANIb values from 70.77 to 74.71%, ANIm values from 82.72 to 88.88%, and DDH values from 18.00 to 23.40%. To identify their genomic features, we compared their genomes with those of other Echinicola species. Phylogenetic analysis showed that strain SCS 3-6 formed a monophyletic clade. Genomic analysis revealed that strain SCS 3-6 possessed a complete synthetic pathway of carotenoid and speculated that the production was astaxanthin. Based on phenotypic and genotypic analyses in this study, strain SCS 3-6 is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Echinicola for which the name Echinicola marina sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SCS 3-6T (= GDMCC 1.2220T = JCM 34403T).
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Takemura M, Maoka T, Koyanagi T, Kawase N, Nishida R, Tsuchida T, Hironaka M, Ueda T, Misawa N. Elucidation of the whole carotenoid biosynthetic pathway of aphids at the gene level and arthropodal food chain involving aphids and the red dragonfly. BMC ZOOL 2021; 6:19. [PMID: 37170139 PMCID: PMC10127341 DOI: 10.1186/s40850-021-00082-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2020] [Accepted: 04/29/2021] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Aphids can be positioned as robust pest insects in farming and as ones of the model organisms for arthropods in molecular biology. Carotenoids are pigments that protect organisms from photooxidative damage caused by excessive light. Aphids were shown to possess genes of fungal origin for carotenoid biosynthesis, whereas a little knowledge was available about the functions of the genes and the biosynthetic pathway. Even carotenoid species contained in aphids were not enough understood. Main purpose of this study is to clarify these insufficient findings.
Results
The whole carotenoid biosynthetic pathway of the pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum) was elucidated at the gene level, through comprehensive functional analysis of its carotenogenic genes, using Escherichia coli that synthesized carotenoid substrates, along with structural and quantitative analysis of carotenoids from various aphid species. Four genes were needed to synthesize all carotenoids accumulated in aphids from geranylgeranyl diphosphate. The tor gene mediated desaturation reaction from phytoene to 3,4-didehydrolycopene. It was revealed that a gene designated ApCrtYB3, which was considered to have functionally evolved in aphids, can convert lycopene into uncommon carotenoids with the γ-ring such as (6′S)-β,γ-carotene and γ,γ-carotene. We further demonstrated that the atypical carotenoids work as ecological indicators for estimating the food chain from aphids to predatory arthropods, and showed that aphids contributed with significant levels to the food chain from insect herbivores to several predatory arthropods, i.e., the red dragonfly (Sympetrum frequens; adults), seven-spotted ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata), and two spiders, Oxyopes sertatus and Nephila clavata. Gut microflora of the dragonfly (mature adults) was also found to include endosymbiotic bacteria such as Serratia symbiotica specific to the black bean aphid (Aphis fabae).
Conclusions
We revealed the whole carotenoid biosynthetic pathway of aphids, including functional identification of the corresponding genes. Subsequently, we showed that arthropodal food chain can be estimated using the uncommon carotenoids of aphids as ecological indicators. This result indicated that aphids made significant contributions to the food chain of several predatory arthropods including the red-dragonfly adults. Aphids are likely to be positioned as an important “phytochemicals” source for some predatory insects and arachnids, which are often active under bright sunlight.
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Shang DD, Lun HY, Zhu KL, Chen GJ, Du ZJ. Tenacibaculum pelagium sp. nov., isolated from marine sediment. Arch Microbiol 2021; 203:2229-2236. [PMID: 33629140 DOI: 10.1007/s00203-021-02208-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2020] [Revised: 01/31/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
A novel bright yellow pigmented, Gram-stain-negative, gliding, aerobic and rod-shaped marine bacterium, designated strain S7007T, was isolated from a marine sediment sample taken from Jingzi Wharf, Weihai, China. The bacterium was able to grow at 4-33 °C (optimum 28 °C), at pH 6.5-9.0 (optimum 7.0) and with 2.0-4.0% (w/v) NaCl (optimum 3.0%). According to the phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences, strain S7007T was associated with the genus Tenacibaculum and showed highest similarity to Tenacibaculum adriaticum JCM 14633T (98.0%). The average nucleotide identity (ANI) scores of strain S7007T with T. adriaticum JCM 14633T and T. maritimum NBRC 110778T were 78.3% and 77.1%, respectively and the Genome-to-Genome Distance Calculator (dDDH) scores were 20.5% and 19.9%, respectively. The sole isoprenoid quinone was MK-6 and the major cellular fatty acids (> 10.0%) were iso-C15:0, iso-C15:0 3-OH, iso-C15: 1 G and summed feature 3 (comprising C16:1 ω7c and/or C16:1 ω6c). The major polar lipids of strain S7007T were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidyldimethylethanolamine, one unidentified lipid and two unidentified aminolipids. The genomic DNA G + C content was 30.9 mol %. The combined phenotypic data and phylogenetic inference that strain S7007T should be classified as a novel species in the genus Tenacibaculum, for which the name Tenacibaculum pelagium sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is S7007T (= MCCC 1H00428T = KCTC 72941T).
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan-Dan Shang
- Marine College, Shandong University, Weihai, 264209, Shandong, People's Republic of China
| | - He-Yuan Lun
- Marine College, Shandong University, Weihai, 264209, Shandong, People's Republic of China
| | - Ke-Lei Zhu
- Marine College, Shandong University, Weihai, 264209, Shandong, People's Republic of China
| | - Guan-Jun Chen
- Marine College, Shandong University, Weihai, 264209, Shandong, People's Republic of China.,State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, Shandong, People's Republic of China
| | - Zong-Jun Du
- Marine College, Shandong University, Weihai, 264209, Shandong, People's Republic of China. .,State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, Shandong, People's Republic of China.
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Chettry U, Chrungoo NK. A multifocal approach towards understanding the complexities of carotenoid biosynthesis and accumulation in rice grains. Brief Funct Genomics 2020; 19:324-335. [PMID: 32240289 DOI: 10.1093/bfgp/elaa007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2019] [Revised: 02/19/2020] [Accepted: 02/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Carotenoids are mostly C40 terpenoids that participate in several important functions in plants including photosynthesis, responses to various forms of stress, signal transduction and photoprotection. While the antioxidant potential of carotenoids is of particular importance for human health, equally important is the role of β-carotene as the precursor for vitamin A in the human diet. Rice, which contributes upto 40% of dietary energy for mankind, contains very low level of β-carotene, thereby making it an important crop for enhancing β-carotene accumulation in its grains and consequently targeting vitamin A deficiency. Biosynthesis of carotenoids in the endosperm of white rice is blocked at the first enzymatic step wherein geranylgeranyl diphosphate is converted to phytoene by the action of phytoene synthase (PSY). Strategies aimed at enhancing β-carotene levels in the endosperm of white rice identified Narcissus pseudonarcissus (npPSY) and bacterial CRT1 as the regulators of the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway in rice. Besides transcriptional regulation of PSY, posttranscriptional regulation of PSY expression by OR gene, molecular synergism between ε-LCY and β-LCY and epigenetic control of CRITSO through SET DOMAIN containing protein appear to be the other regulatory nodes which regulate carotenoid biosynthesis and accumulation in rice grains. In this review, we elucidate a comprehensive and deeper understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of carotenoid metabolism in crops that will enable us to identify an effective tool to alleviate carotenoid content in rice grains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Upasna Chettry
- Department of Botany, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong 793022, India
| | - Nikhil K Chrungoo
- Department of Botany, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong 793022, India
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Zhang J, Gao C, Yu XM, Lun HY, Du ZJ. Chryseobacterium lacus sp. nov. Isolated From the Surface Water of Two Lakes With Light-Induced Carotenoid Production. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:251. [PMID: 32194523 PMCID: PMC7064467 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.00251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2019] [Accepted: 02/03/2020] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Two Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped, gliding, catalase-positive, and facultative anaerobic strains, YLOS41T and XH07, were isolated from surface water of Yilong Lake and West Lake of Dali in Yunnan Province, respectively. Both strains were yellow-colored under light conditions and white-colored under dark conditions. The results of physiological and chemotaxonomic characterization, sequencing and phylogenetic analysis, and draft genome sequence comparison demonstrated that the two strains represented a single novel species within the genus Chryseobacterium, for which the name Chryseobacterium lacus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is YLOS41T (= KCTC 62352T = MCCC 1H00300T), and the second strain is XH07 (= KCTC 62993). During the cultivation process, we found that the colony color of the two strains changed from white to yellow with illumination. The study investigated the effects of light irradiation on the strain YLOS41T. Results showed that light irradiation did not affect the growth of cells but significantly increased carotenoid synthesis, which caused the change of colony color. In-depth metabolic analysis was conducted by transcriptome. The predominant changes were found for genes involved in carotenoid synthesis as protection from light damage. Based on the genome and transcriptome, we proved that strain YLOS41T possessed a complete synthetic pathway of carotenoid and speculated that the production was zeaxanthin. This was the first report of Chryseobacterium species with light-induced carotenoid synthesis. This study enhances our present knowledge on how Chryseobacterium species isolated from surface water responds to light damage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Zhang
- Marine College, Shandong University, Weihai, China.,State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Cheng Gao
- Marine College, Shandong University, Weihai, China
| | - Xue-Mei Yu
- Marine College, Shandong University, Weihai, China
| | - He-Yuan Lun
- Marine College, Shandong University, Weihai, China
| | - Zong-Jun Du
- Marine College, Shandong University, Weihai, China.,State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
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Thiour-Mauprivez C, Martin-Laurent F, Calvayrac C, Barthelmebs L. Effects of herbicide on non-target microorganisms: Towards a new class of biomarkers? THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 684:314-325. [PMID: 31153078 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2019] [Revised: 05/02/2019] [Accepted: 05/16/2019] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Conventional agriculture still relies on the general use of agrochemicals (herbicides, fungicides and insecticides) to control various pests (weeds, fungal pathogens and insects), to ensure the yield of crop and to feed a constantly growing population. The generalized use of pesticides in agriculture leads to the contamination of soil and other connected environmental resources. The persistence of pesticide residues in soil is identified as a major threat for in-soil living organisms that are supporting an important number of ecosystem services. Although authorities released pesticides on the market only after their careful and thorough evaluation, the risk assessment for in-soil living organisms is unsatisfactory, particularly for microorganisms for which pesticide toxicity is solely considered by one global test measuring N mineralization. Recently, European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) underlined the lack of standardized methods to assess pesticide ecotoxicological effects on soil microorganisms. Within this context, there is an obvious need to develop innovative microbial markers sensitive to pesticide exposure. Biomarkers that reveal direct effects of pesticides on microorganisms are often viewed as the panacea. Such biomarkers can only be developed for pesticides having a mode of action inhibiting a specific enzyme not only found in the targeted organisms but also in microorganisms which are considered as "non-target organisms" by current regulations. This review explores possible ways of innovation to develop such biomarkers for herbicides. We scanned the herbicide classification by considering the mode of action, the targeted enzyme and the ecotoxicological effects of each class of active substance in order to identify those that can be tracked using sensitive microbial markers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clémence Thiour-Mauprivez
- Univ. Perpignan Via Domitia, Biocapteurs-Analyses-Environnement, 66860 Perpignan, France; Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Biotechnologies Microbiennes, USR 3579 Sorbonne Universités (UPMC) Paris 6 et CNRS Observatoire Océanologique, 66650 Banyuls-sur-Mer, France; AgroSup Dijon, INRA, Univ. Bourgogne, Univ. Bourgogne Franche-Comté, F-21065 Dijon, France
| | - Fabrice Martin-Laurent
- AgroSup Dijon, INRA, Univ. Bourgogne, Univ. Bourgogne Franche-Comté, F-21065 Dijon, France
| | - Christophe Calvayrac
- Univ. Perpignan Via Domitia, Biocapteurs-Analyses-Environnement, 66860 Perpignan, France; Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Biotechnologies Microbiennes, USR 3579 Sorbonne Universités (UPMC) Paris 6 et CNRS Observatoire Océanologique, 66650 Banyuls-sur-Mer, France
| | - Lise Barthelmebs
- Univ. Perpignan Via Domitia, Biocapteurs-Analyses-Environnement, 66860 Perpignan, France; Laboratoire de Biodiversité et Biotechnologies Microbiennes, USR 3579 Sorbonne Universités (UPMC) Paris 6 et CNRS Observatoire Océanologique, 66650 Banyuls-sur-Mer, France.
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Enfissi EMA, Nogueira M, Bramley PM, Fraser PD. The regulation of carotenoid formation in tomato fruit. THE PLANT JOURNAL : FOR CELL AND MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 2017; 89:774-788. [PMID: 27865019 DOI: 10.1111/tpj.13428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2016] [Revised: 10/14/2016] [Accepted: 11/14/2016] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Carotenoid biosynthesis in plants includes a complex series of desaturation/isomerisation reactions, catalyzed by four independent enzymes. In bacteria and fungi one desaturase/isomerase enzyme completes the same series of reactions. In the present study, a bacterial desaturase (crtI) from Pantoea ananatis has been overexpressed in the tangerine mutant of tomato (Solanum lycopersicon) which accumulates cis-carotene isomers in the fruit due to a defective isomerase (CRTISO) and the old gold crimson (ogc ) tomato mutant, which is defective in the fruit-enhanced lycopene β-cyclase (CYCB). Comprehensive molecular and biochemical characterization of the resulting lines expressing crtI has revealed negative feedback mechanisms, acting predominantly at the level of phytoene synthase-1 (PSY1), and feed-forward mechanisms inducing cyclisation. In both cases, altered transcription appears to be the progenitor, with subsequent post-transcriptional modulation highlighting the complexity of the processes involved in modulating carotenoid homeostasis in plant tissues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eugenia M A Enfissi
- School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 OEX, UK
| | - Marilise Nogueira
- School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 OEX, UK
| | - Peter M Bramley
- School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 OEX, UK
| | - Paul D Fraser
- School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, Surrey, TW20 OEX, UK
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Li M, Gan Z, Cui Y, Shi C, Shi X. Structure and function characterization of the phytoene desaturase related to the lutein biosynthesis in Chlorella protothecoides CS-41. Mol Biol Rep 2012; 40:3351-61. [PMID: 23271125 DOI: 10.1007/s11033-012-2410-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2012] [Accepted: 12/18/2012] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Phytoene desaturase is the key enzyme involved in the biosynthesis pathway of lutein. The unicellular microalga, Chlorella protothecoides CS-41, had been selected for the heterotrophic production of high concentrations of lutein. In this study, a cDNA copy of the pds gene from C. protothecoides was obtained using the rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) technique. Phylogenetic analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence revealed that the phytoene desaturases derived from the algal family. Expression of the pds gene in Escherichia coli produced a single protein of 61 kDa. The PDS activity of the expressed protein was confirmed by the production of ζ-carotene as the result from the action of the enzyme's desaturation activity, which was identified by high-performance liquid chromatography and heterologous complementation analysis. Using random and site-directed mutagenesis, a single amino acid mutation (N144D) was identified and confirmed. This mutant encodes an inactive enzyme, which implies that amino acid 144 is crutial to the activity of the PDS enzyme. Therefore, by gene cloning and expression in prokaryotic cells, the gene for ζ-carotene production or as part of the biosynthetic pathway of lutein had been characterized from Chlorella protothecoides CS-41.
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Affiliation(s)
- Meiya Li
- Department of Food Science & Technology, MOST-USDA Joint Research Center for Food Safety and Bor Luh Food Safety Center, School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, People's Republic of China
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High-level production of the industrial product lycopene by the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum. Appl Environ Microbiol 2012; 78:7205-15. [PMID: 22865070 DOI: 10.1128/aem.00545-12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The biosynthesis of the major carotenoid spirilloxanthin by the purple nonsulfur bacterium Rhodospirillum rubrum is thought to occur via a linear pathway proceeding through phytoene and, later, lycopene as intermediates. This assumption is based solely on early chemical evidence (B. H. Davies, Biochem. J. 116:93-99, 1970). In most purple bacteria, the desaturation of phytoene, catalyzed by the enzyme phytoene desaturase (CrtI), leads to neurosporene, involving only three dehydrogenation steps and not four as in the case of lycopene. We show here that the chromosomal insertion of a kanamycin resistance cassette into the crtC-crtD region of the partial carotenoid gene cluster, whose gene products are responsible for the downstream processing of lycopene, leads to the accumulation of the latter as the major carotenoid. We provide spectroscopic and biochemical evidence that in vivo, lycopene is incorporated into the light-harvesting complex 1 as efficiently as the methoxylated carotenoids spirilloxanthin (in the wild type) and 3,4,3',4'-tetrahydrospirilloxanthin (in a crtD mutant), both under semiaerobic, chemoheterotrophic, and photosynthetic, anaerobic conditions. Quantitative growth experiments conducted in dark, semiaerobic conditions, using a growth medium for high cell density and high intracellular membrane levels, which are suitable for the conventional industrial production in the absence of light, yielded lycopene at up to 2 mg/g (dry weight) of cells or up to 15 mg/liter of culture. These values are comparable to those of many previously described Escherichia coli strains engineered for lycopene production. This study provides the first genetic proof that the R. rubrum CrtI produces lycopene exclusively as an end product.
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Zhang J, Lu L, Yin L, Xie S, Xiao M. Carotenogenesis gene cluster and phytoene desaturase catalyzing both three- and four-step desaturations from Rhodobacter azotoformans. FEMS Microbiol Lett 2012; 333:138-45. [PMID: 22640029 DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2012.02604.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2012] [Revised: 05/22/2012] [Accepted: 05/23/2012] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
A carotenogenesis gene cluster from the purple nonsulfur photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter azotoformans CGMCC 6086 was cloned. A total of eight carotenogenesis genes ( crtA , crtI , crtB , tspO , crtC , crtD , crtE , and crtF ) were located in two separate regions within the genome, a 4.9 kb region containing four clustered genes of crtAIB - tspO and a 5.3 kb region containing four clustered genes of crtCDEF . The organization was unusual for a carotenogenesis gene cluster in purple photosynthetic bacteria. A gene encoding phytoene desaturase ( CrtI ) from Rba. azotoformans was expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant CrtI could catalyze both three- and four-step desaturations of phytoene to produce neurosporene and lycopene, and the relative contents of neurosporene and lycopene formed by CrtI were approximately 23% and 75%, respectively. Even small amounts of five-step desaturated 3,4-didehydrolycopene could be produced by CrtI . This product pattern was novel because CrtI produced only neurosporene leading to spheroidene pathway in the cells of Rba. azotoformans. In the in vitro reaction, the relative content of lycopene in desaturated products increased from 19.6% to 62.5% when phytoene reduced from 2.6 to 0.13 μM. The results revealed that the product pattern of CrtI might be affected by the kinetics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinhua Zhang
- State Key Lab of Microbial Technology and National Glycoengineering Research Center, Shandong University, Jinan, China
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Bertrand M. Carotenoid biosynthesis in diatoms. PHOTOSYNTHESIS RESEARCH 2010; 106:89-102. [PMID: 20734232 DOI: 10.1007/s11120-010-9589-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2010] [Accepted: 07/24/2010] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Diatoms are ubiquitous and constitute an important group of the phytoplankton community having a major contribution to the total marine primary production. These microalgae exhibit a characteristic golden-brown colour due to a high amount of the xanthophyll fucoxanthin that plays a major role in the light-harvesting complex of photosystems. In the water column, diatoms are exposed to light intensities that vary quickly from lower to higher values. Xanthophyll cycles prevent photodestruction of the cells in excessive light intensities. In diatoms, the diadinoxanthin-diatoxanthin cycle is the most important short-term photoprotective mechanism. If the biosynthetic pathways of chloroplast pigments have been extensively studied in higher plants and green algae, the research on carotenoid biosynthesis in diatoms is still in its infancy. In this study, the data on the biosynthetic pathway of diatom carotenoids are reviewed. The early steps occur through the 2-C-methyl-D: -erythritol 4-phosphate (MEP) pathway. Then a hypothetical pathway is suggested from dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) and isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP). Most of the enzymes of the pathway have not been so far isolated from diatoms, but candidate genes for each of them were identified using protein similarity searches of genomic data.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martine Bertrand
- MiMeTox, National Institute for Marine Sciences and Techniques, CNAM, BP 324, 50103 Cherbourg-Octeville Cedex, France.
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Albermann C. High versus low level expression of the lycopene biosynthesis genes from Pantoea ananatis in Escherichia coli. Biotechnol Lett 2010; 33:313-9. [DOI: 10.1007/s10529-010-0422-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2010] [Accepted: 09/17/2010] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Chen Y, Li F, Wurtzel ET. Isolation and characterization of the Z-ISO gene encoding a missing component of carotenoid biosynthesis in plants. PLANT PHYSIOLOGY 2010; 153:66-79. [PMID: 20335404 PMCID: PMC2862425 DOI: 10.1104/pp.110.153916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 145] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2010] [Accepted: 03/19/2010] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
Metabolic engineering of plant carotenoids in food crops has been a recent focus for improving human health. Pathway manipulation is predicated on comprehensive knowledge of this biosynthetic pathway, which has been extensively studied. However, there existed the possibility of an additional biosynthetic step thought to be dispensable because it could be compensated for by light. This step, mediated by a putative Z-ISO, was predicted to occur in the sequence of redox reactions that are coupled to an electron transport chain and convert the colorless 15-cis-phytoene to the red-colored all-trans-lycopene. The enigma of carotenogenesis in the absence of light (e.g. in endosperm, a target for improving nutritional content) argued for Z-ISO as a pathway requirement. Therefore, understanding of plant carotenoid biosynthesis was obviously incomplete. To prove the existence of Z-ISO, maize (Zea mays) and Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) mutants were isolated and the gene identified. Functional testing of the gene product in Escherichia coli showed isomerization of the 15-cis double bond in 9,15,9'-tri-cis-zeta-carotene, proving that Z-ISO encoded the missing step. Z-ISO was found to be important for both light-exposed and "dark" tissues. Comparative genomics illuminated the origin of Z-ISO found throughout higher and lower plants, algae, diatoms, and cyanobacteria. Z-ISO evolved from an ancestor related to the NnrU (for nitrite and nitric oxide reductase U) gene required for bacterial denitrification, a pathway that produces nitrogen oxides as alternate electron acceptors for anaerobic growth. Therefore, plant carotenogenesis evolved by recruitment of genes from noncarotenogenic bacteria.
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Sandmann G. Evolution of carotene desaturation: the complication of a simple pathway. Arch Biochem Biophys 2008; 483:169-74. [PMID: 18948076 DOI: 10.1016/j.abb.2008.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2008] [Revised: 10/02/2008] [Accepted: 10/03/2008] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
In a series of desaturation reactions, the trienoic structures of phytoene and diapophytoene are extended to a maximum of 15 or 11 conjugated double bonds, respectively. After the cloning of several genes from bacteria and eukaryotes, the desaturation reactions were first analyzed in a heterologous host by functional genetic complementation. In addition, different desaturases were heterologously expressed and the reactions studied in vitro. This revealed that in archaea, non-photosynthetic prokaryotes and fungi the desaturases differ significantly from convergently evolved desaturases in cyanobacteria, Chlorobaculum (old name Chlorobium) species and eukaryotic photosynthetic organisms including plants. Detailed analysis of the desaturation reactions including the determination of the substrates converted by the enzymes, the intermediates and the products formed in the reactions revealed the bacterial all-trans desaturation pathway catalyzed by a single enzyme and the cyanobacterial/plant type poly-cis desaturation pathway which involves two closely related desaturases. This indicates that in the course of evolution of carotenogenesis from bacteria via cyanobacteria to plants, the simple situation of one enzyme for the entire reaction sequence from phytoene to all-trans lycopene changed to a more complex process. Three individual enzymes, newly acquired phytoene and zeta-carotene desaturases, as well as a carotene isomerase which is phylogenetically related to CrtI are involved. Only the CrtI-type enzymes seem to have the property to catalyze cis to trans conversion of carotenes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerhard Sandmann
- Biosynthesis Group, Molecular Biosciences, J.W. Goethe Universitaet, Biocampus 213, P.O. Box 111932, D-60054 Frankfurt, Germany.
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Isorenieratene biosynthesis in green sulfur bacteria requires the cooperative actions of two carotenoid cyclases. J Bacteriol 2008; 190:6384-91. [PMID: 18676669 DOI: 10.1128/jb.00758-08] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The cyclization of lycopene to gamma- or beta-carotene is a major branch point in the biosynthesis of carotenoids in photosynthetic bacteria. Four families of carotenoid cyclases are known, and each family includes both mono- and dicyclases, which catalyze the formation of gamma- and beta-carotene, respectively. Green sulfur bacteria (GSB) synthesize aromatic carotenoids, of which the most commonly occurring types are the monocyclic chlorobactene and the dicyclic isorenieratene. Recently, the cruA gene, encoding a conserved hypothetical protein found in the genomes of all GSB and some cyanobacteria, was identified as a lycopene cyclase. Further genomic analyses have found that all available fully sequenced genomes of GSB encode an ortholog of cruA. Additionally, the genomes of all isorenieratene-producing species of GSB encode a cruA paralog, now named cruB. The cruA gene from the chlorobactene-producing GSB species Chlorobaculum tepidum and both cruA and cruB from the brown-colored, isorenieratene-producing GSB species Chlorobium phaeobacteroides strain DSM 266(T) were heterologously expressed in lycopene- and neurosporene-producing strains of Escherichia coli, and the cruB gene of Chlorobium clathratiforme strain DSM 5477(T) was also heterologously expressed in C. tepidum by inserting the gene at the bchU locus. The results show that CruA is probably a lycopene monocyclase in all GSB and that CruB is a gamma-carotene cyclase in isorenieratene-producing species. Consequently, the branch point for the synthesis of mono- and dicyclic carotenoids in GSB seems to be the modification of gamma-carotene, rather than the cyclization of lycopene as occurs in cyanobacteria.
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Maresca JA, Graham JE, Bryant DA. The biochemical basis for structural diversity in the carotenoids of chlorophototrophic bacteria. PHOTOSYNTHESIS RESEARCH 2008; 97:121-40. [PMID: 18535920 DOI: 10.1007/s11120-008-9312-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2008] [Accepted: 05/14/2008] [Indexed: 05/15/2023]
Abstract
Ongoing work has led to the identification of most of the biochemical steps in carotenoid biosynthesis in chlorophototrophic bacteria. In carotenogenesis, a relatively small number of modifications leads to a great diversity of carotenoid structures. This review examines the individual steps in the pathway, discusses how each contributes to structural diversity among carotenoids, and summarizes recent progress in elucidating the biosynthetic pathways for carotenoids in chlorophototrophs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia A Maresca
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
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18
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Maresca JA, Graham JE, Wu M, Eisen JA, Bryant DA. Identification of a fourth family of lycopene cyclases in photosynthetic bacteria. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2007; 104:11784-9. [PMID: 17606904 PMCID: PMC1905924 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0702984104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
A fourth and large family of lycopene cyclases was identified in photosynthetic prokaryotes. The first member of this family, encoded by the cruA gene of the green sulfur bacterium Chlorobium tepidum, was identified in a complementation assay with a lycopene-producing strain of Escherichia coli. Orthologs of cruA are found in all available green sulfur bacterial genomes and in all cyanobacterial genomes that lack genes encoding CrtL- or CrtY-type lycopene cyclases. The cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 has two homologs of CruA, denoted CruA and CruP, and both were shown to have lycopene cyclase activity. Although all characterized lycopene cyclases in plants are CrtL-type proteins, genes orthologous to cruP also occur in plant genomes. The CruA- and CruP-type carotenoid cyclases are members of the FixC dehydrogenase superfamily and are distantly related to CrtL- and CrtY-type lycopene cyclases. Identification of these cyclases fills a major gap in the carotenoid biosynthetic pathways of green sulfur bacteria and cyanobacteria.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia A. Maresca
- *Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802; and
| | - Joel E. Graham
- *Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802; and
| | - Martin Wu
- The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), Rockville, MD 20850
| | | | - Donald A. Bryant
- *Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802; and
- To whom correspondence should be addressed at:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pennsylvania State University, S-235 Frear Building, University Park, PA 16802. E-mail:
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19
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Stickforth P, Sandmann G. Kinetic variations determine the product pattern of phytoene desaturase from Rubrivivax gelatinosus. Arch Biochem Biophys 2007; 461:235-41. [PMID: 17428435 DOI: 10.1016/j.abb.2007.02.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2006] [Revised: 02/22/2007] [Accepted: 02/22/2007] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
In bacteria and fungi, the degree of carotenoid desaturation is determined by a single enzyme, the CrtI-type phytoene desaturase. In different organisms, this enzyme can carry out either three, four or even five desaturation steps. The purple bacterium Rubrivivax gelatinosus is the only known species in which reaction products of a 3-step and a 4-step desaturation (i.e. neurosporene and lycopene derivatives) accumulate simultaneously. The properties of this phytoene desaturation to catalyze neurosporene or lycopene were analyzed by heterologous complementations in Escherichia coli and by in vitro studies. They demonstrated that high enzyme concentrations or low phytoene supply favor the formation of lycopene. Under these conditions, CrtI from Rhodobacter spheroides can be forced in vitro to lycopene formation although this carotene is not synthesized in this species. All results can be explained by a model based on the competition between phytoene and neurosporene for the substrate binding site of phytoene desaturase. Mutations in CrtI from Rvi. gelatinosus have been generated resulting in increased lycopene formation in Escherichia coli. This modification in catalysis is due to increased amounts of CrtI protein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Per Stickforth
- Molecular Biosciences 213, J.W. Goethe Universität, P.O. Box 111932, D-60054 Frankfurt, Germany
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20
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Cunningham FX, Gantt E. A portfolio of plasmids for identification and analysis of carotenoid pathway enzymes: Adonis aestivalis as a case study. PHOTOSYNTHESIS RESEARCH 2007; 92:245-59. [PMID: 17634749 DOI: 10.1007/s11120-007-9210-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2007] [Accepted: 05/25/2007] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Carotenoids are indispensable pigments of the photosynthetic apparatus in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria and are produced, as well, by many bacteria and fungi. Elucidation of biochemical pathways leading to the carotenoids that function in the photosynthetic membranes of land plants has been greatly aided by the use of carotenoid-accumulating strains of Escherichia coli as heterologous hosts for functional assays, in vivo, of the otherwise difficult to study membrane-associated pathway enzymes. This same experimental approach is uniquely well-suited to the discovery and characterization of yet-to-be identified enzymes that lead to carotenoids of the photosynthetic membranes in algal cells, to the multitude of carotenoids found in nongreen plant tissues, and to the myriad flavor and aroma compounds that are derived from carotenoids in plant tissues. A portfolio of plasmids suitable for the production in E. coli of a variety of carotenoids is presented herein. The use of these carotenoid-producing E. coli for the identification of cDNAs encoding enzymes of carotenoid and isoprenoid biosynthesis, for characterization of the enzymes these cDNAs encode, and for the production of specific carotenoids for use as enzyme substrates and reference standards, is described using the flowering plant Adonis aestivalis to provide examples. cDNAs encoding nine different A. aestivalis enzymes of carotenoid and isoprenoid synthesis were identified and the enzymatic activity of their products verified. Those cDNAs newly described include ones that encode phytoene synthase, beta-carotene hydroxylase, deoxyxylulose-5-phosphate synthase, isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase, and geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francis X Cunningham
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
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21
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Cunningham FX, Lee H, Gantt E. Carotenoid biosynthesis in the primitive red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolae. EUKARYOTIC CELL 2006; 6:533-45. [PMID: 17085635 PMCID: PMC1828917 DOI: 10.1128/ec.00265-06] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Cyanidioschyzon merolae is considered to be one of the most primitive of eukaryotic photosynthetic organisms. To obtain insights into the origin and evolution of the pathway of carotenoid biosynthesis in eukaryotic plants, the carotenoid content of C. merolae was ascertained, genes encoding enzymes of carotenoid biosynthesis in this unicellular red alga were identified, and the activities of two candidate pathway enzymes of particular interest, lycopene cyclase and beta-carotene hydroxylase, were examined. C. merolae contains perhaps the simplest assortment of chlorophylls and carotenoids found in any eukaryotic photosynthetic organism: chlorophyll a, beta-carotene, and zeaxanthin. Carotenoids with epsilon-rings (e.g., lutein), found in many other red algae and in green algae and land plants, were not detected, and the lycopene cyclase of C. merolae quite specifically produced only beta-ringed carotenoids when provided with lycopene as the substrate in Escherichia coli. Lycopene beta-ring cyclases from several bacteria, cyanobacteria, and land plants also proved to be high-fidelity enzymes, whereas the structurally related epsilon-ring cyclases from several plant species were found to be less specific, yielding products with beta-rings as well as epsilon-rings. C. merolae lacks orthologs of genes that encode the two types of beta-carotene hydroxylase found in land plants, one a nonheme diiron oxygenase and the other a cytochrome P450. A C. merolae chloroplast gene specifies a polypeptide similar to members of a third class of beta-carotene hydroxylases, common in cyanobacteria, but this gene did not produce an active enzyme when expressed in E. coli. The identity of the C. merolae beta-carotene hydroxylase therefore remains uncertain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francis X Cunningham
- Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, Microbiology Building, Room 2202, Campus Drive, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USa.
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22
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Cervantes-Cervantes M, Gallagher CE, Zhu C, Wurtzel ET. Maize cDNAs expressed in endosperm encode functional farnesyl diphosphate synthase with geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase activity. PLANT PHYSIOLOGY 2006; 141:220-31. [PMID: 16581875 PMCID: PMC1459322 DOI: 10.1104/pp.106.077008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Isoprenoids are the most diverse and abundant group of natural products. In plants, farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) and geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP) are precursors to many isoprenoids having essential functions. Terpenoids and sterols are derived from FPP, whereas gibberellins, carotenoids, casbenes, taxenes, and others originate from GGPP. The corresponding synthases (FPP synthase [FPPS] and GGPP synthase [GGPPS]) catalyze, respectively, the addition of two and three isopentenyl diphosphate molecules to dimethylallyl diphosphate. Maize (Zea mays L. cv B73) endosperm cDNAs encoding isoprenoid synthases were isolated by functional complementation of Escherichia coli cells carrying a bacterial gene cluster encoding all pathway enzymes needed for carotenoid biosynthesis, except for GGPPS. This approach indicated that the maize gene products were functional GGPPS enzymes. Yet, the predicted enzyme sequences revealed FPPS motifs and homology with FPPS enzymes. In vitro assays demonstrated that indeed these maize enzymes produced both FPP and GGPP and that the N-terminal sequence affected the ratio of FPP to GGPP. Their functionality in E. coli demonstrated that these maize enzymes can be coupled with a metabolon to provide isoprenoid substrates for pathway use, and suggests that enzyme bifunctionality can be harnessed. The maize cDNAs are encoded by a small gene family whose transcripts are prevalent in endosperm beginning mid development. These maize cDNAs will be valuable tools for assessing the critical structural properties determining prenyl transferase specificity and in metabolic engineering of isoprenoid pathways, especially in cereal crops.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Cervantes-Cervantes
- Department of Biological Sciences, Lehman College, City University of New York, Bronx, New York 10468, USA
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23
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Tao L, Picataggio S, Rouvière PE, Cheng Q. Asymmetrically acting lycopene beta-cyclases (CrtLm) from non-photosynthetic bacteria. Mol Genet Genomics 2004; 271:180-8. [PMID: 14740205 DOI: 10.1007/s00438-003-0969-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2003] [Accepted: 11/21/2003] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
Carotenoids have important functions in photosynthesis, nutrition, and protection against oxidative damage. Some natural carotenoids are asymmetrical molecules that are difficult to produce chemically. Biological production of carotenoids using specific enzymes is a potential alternative to extraction from natural sources. Here we report the isolation of lycopene beta-cyclases that selectively cyclize only one end of lycopene or neurosporene. The crtLm genes encoding the asymmetrically acting lycopene beta-cyclases were isolated from non-photosynthetic bacteria that produced monocyclic carotenoids. Co-expression of these crtLm genes with the crtEIB genes from Pantoea stewartii (responsible for lycopene synthesis) resulted in the production of monocyclic gamma-carotene in Escherichia coli. The asymmetric cyclization activity of CrtLm could be inhibited by the lycopene beta-cyclase inhibitor 2-(4-chlorophenylthio)-triethylamine (CPTA). Phylogenetic analysis suggested that bacterial CrtL-type lycopene beta-cyclases might represent an evolutionary link between the common bacterial CrtY-type of lycopene beta-cyclases and plant lycopene beta- and epsilon-cyclases. These lycopene beta-cyclases may be used for efficient production of high-value asymmetrically cyclized carotenoids.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Tao
- Biological and Chemical Sciences and Engineering, Central Research and Development, Experimental Station, E I DuPont de Nemours Inc, E328/B48, Wilmington, DE 19880-0328, USA
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24
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Umeno D, Tobias AV, Arnold FH. Evolution of the C30 carotenoid synthase CrtM for function in a C40 pathway. J Bacteriol 2002; 184:6690-9. [PMID: 12426357 PMCID: PMC135437 DOI: 10.1128/jb.184.23.6690-6699.2002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The C30 carotene synthase CrtM from Staphylococcus aureus and the C40 carotene synthase CrtB from Erwinia uredovora were swapped into their respective foreign C40 and C30 biosynthetic pathways (heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli) and evaluated for function. Each displayed negligible ability to synthesize the natural carotenoid product of the other. After one round of mutagenesis and screening, we isolated 116 variants of CrtM able to synthesize C40 carotenoids. In contrast, we failed to find a single variant of CrtB with detectable C30 activity. Subsequent analysis revealed that the best CrtM mutants performed comparably to CrtB in an in vivo C40 pathway. These mutants showed significant variation in performance in their original C30 pathway, indicating the emergence of enzymes with broadened substrate specificity as well as those with shifted specificity. We discovered that Phe 26 alone determines the specificity of CrtM. The plasticity of CrtM with respect to its substrate and product range highlights the potential for creating further new carotenoid backbone structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daisuke Umeno
- Department of Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology 210-41, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
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25
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Masamoto K, Wada H, Kaneko T, Takaichi S. Identification of a gene required for cis-to-trans carotene isomerization in carotenogenesis of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. PLANT & CELL PHYSIOLOGY 2001; 42:1398-1402. [PMID: 11773533 DOI: 10.1093/pcp/pce167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
A disruptive mutant of the sll0033 gene of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 produced primarily cis carotenes and small amounts of all-trans carotenes, but no xanthophylls, under dark conditions. Under light conditions, however, it produced normal carotenoids, that were the same as those produced by wild-type cells grown under both light and dark conditions. When the mutant cells cultured under dark conditions were irradiated, cis-isomers of carotenes were converted to all-trans lycopene. These findings demonstrate that this gene, designated crtH, is involved in the isomerization of cis-carotenes to all-trans forms in dark conditions, and that cis-carotenes were also converted to all-trans forms under light conditions by photoisomerization.
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Affiliation(s)
- K Masamoto
- Biological Laboratory, Faculty of Education, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, 860-8555 Japan.
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Harada J, Nagashima KV, Takaichi S, Misawa N, Matsuura K, Shimada K. Phytoene desaturase, CrtI, of the purple photosynthetic bacterium, Rubrivivax gelatinosus, produces both neurosporene and lycopene. PLANT & CELL PHYSIOLOGY 2001; 42:1112-8. [PMID: 11673627 DOI: 10.1093/pcp/pce140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Biosynthetic pathways for carotenoids in the purple photosynthetic bacterium, Rubrivivax gelatinosus, which synthesizes spirilloxanthin in addition to spheroidene and OH-spheroidene, were investigated by means of genetic manipulation. A phytoene desaturase gene (crtI) found in the photosynthesis gene cluster of this bacterium was expressed in an Escherichia coli strain that can produce phytoene. Both neurosporene and lycopene were synthesized in the recombinant, probably by three- and four-step desaturation reactions of CrtI. A mutant of RVI: gelatinosus lacking the crtI gene produced only phytoene, indicating that this organism had no other phytoene desaturases. When the crtI deletion mutant was complemented by the three-step phytoene desaturase of Rhodobacter capsulatus, spirilloxanthin and its precursors were not synthesized, although spheroidene and OH-spheroidene were accumulated. It was concluded that neurosporene and lycopene are produced by a single phytoene desaturase in RVI: gelatinosus resulting in the synthesis of spheroidene and spirilloxanthin, and that there are no pathways for spirilloxanthin synthesis via spheroidene.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Harada
- Department of Biology, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Minami-ohsawa 1-1, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0397 Japan.
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Raisig A, Sandmann G. Functional properties of diapophytoene and related desaturases of C(30) and C(40) carotenoid biosynthetic pathways. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA 2001; 1533:164-70. [PMID: 11566453 DOI: 10.1016/s1388-1981(01)00154-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
The desaturation reactions of C(30) carotenoids from diapophytoene to diaponeurosporene was investigated in vitro and by complementation in Escherichia coli. The expressed diapophytoene desaturase from Staphylococcus aureus inserts three double bonds in an FAD-dependent reaction. The enzyme is inhibited by diphenylamine. In the complementation experiment diapophytoene desaturase was able to convert C(40) phytoene to some extend but exhibited a high affinity to zeta-carotene. Comparison to the reaction of a phytoene desaturase from Rhodobacter capsulatus catalyzing a parallel three-step desaturation sequence with the corresponding C(40) carotenes revealed that this desaturase can also convert C(30) diapophytoene. Other homologous bacterial C(40) carotene desaturases could also utilize C(30) substrates, including one type of zeta-carotene desaturase which converted diaponeurosporene to diapolycopene. Further complementation experiments including the diapophytoene synthase gene from S. aureus revealed that the C(30) carotenogenic pathway is determined by this initial enzyme which is highly homologous to C(40) phytoene synthases.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Raisig
- Biosynthesis Group, Botanical Institute 213, J.W. Goethe Universität, P.O. Box 111932, D-60054, Frankfurt, Germany
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28
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Ogawa H, Yamada I, Arai K, Hirase K, Moriyasu K, Schneider C, Sandmann G, Böger P, Wakabayashi K. Mode of bleaching phytotoxicity of herbicidal diphenylpyrrolidinones. PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE 2001; 57:33-40. [PMID: 11455630 DOI: 10.1002/1526-4998(200101)57:1<33::aid-ps243>3.0.co;2-h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
A mode of action study of herbicidal diphenylpyrrolidinones was carried out through carotenoid analyses in intact Scenedesmus cells and by a cell-free plant-type phytoene desaturase assay using Escherichia coli transformants. A series of forty-eight diphenylpyrrolidinones decreased the carotenoid content of Scenedesmus cells in the light and inhibited phytoene desaturase. The relationship between substituents at various positions and inhibition of phytoene desaturase is discussed. Using very active bleaching diphenylpyrrolidinones, a 10(-5) M concentration affected neither the zeta-carotene desaturase nor the protoporphyrinogen-IX oxidase. Although some differences in their inhibitory activity were found between the in vivo and cell-free assays, it is concluded that the compounds are essentially bleachers affecting carotenoid biosynthesis in plants. Enzyme kinetics studies with recombinant phytoene desaturase revealed a non-competitive inhibition with respect to the substrate phytoene. A competition against the inhibitor was shown by the cofactor NADP+, suggesting an interaction of pyrrolidinones at the cofactor-binding site of phytoene desaturase.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Ogawa
- Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tamagawa University, Machida-shi, Tokyo 194-0041, Japan
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29
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Steiger S, Astier C, Sandmann G. Substrate specificity of the expressed carotenoid 3,4-desaturase from Rubrivivax gelatinosus reveals the detailed reaction sequence to spheroidene and spirilloxanthin. Biochem J 2000; 349:635-40. [PMID: 10880364 PMCID: PMC1221188 DOI: 10.1042/0264-6021:3490635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Carotenoid biosynthesis in the photosynthetic bacterium Rubrivivax gelatinosus leads to the formation of hydroxyspheroidene and spirilloxanthin as the products of a branched pathway. In this study we investigated the role of the desaturase encoded by crtD which catalyses the introduction of C-3,4 double bonds into acyclic carotenoids. The desaturase was expressed in Escherichia coli, and the activity and the substrate specificity of the enzyme were evaluated in vitro by application of structurally different carotenoids. The results indicate that the enzyme is a 3,4-desaturase that converts 1-hydroxy carotenoids. The 3,4-desaturation reaction can only occur with mono-1-hydroxy carotenoids at a psi-end group or with 1,1'-dihydroxy derivatives carrying a 3',4'-double bond. In addition, 1-HO-zeta-carotene could also be converted by the desaturase. Enzyme kinetic studies showed a substrate preference of 1-HO-neurosporene over 1-HO-lycopene. Consequences from the biochemical data for the reaction sequence of hydroxyspheroidene and spirilloxanthin formation and the interconnection of both branches are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Steiger
- Biosynthesis Group, Botanical Institute, J.W. Goethe Universität, P.O. Box 111930, D-60054 Frankfurt, Germany
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30
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Hausmann A, Sandmann G. A single five-step desaturase is involved in the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway to beta-carotene and torulene in Neurospora crassa. Fungal Genet Biol 2000; 30:147-53. [PMID: 11017770 DOI: 10.1006/fgbi.2000.1212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Phytoene desaturase Al-1 from Neurospora crassa was expressed in Escherichia coli and an active enzyme was isolated which catalyzed the stepwise introduction of up to five double bonds into the substrate phytoene. The major reaction products were 3, 4-didehydrolycopene and lycopene. Several of the desaturation intermediates, zeta-carotene, neurosporene, and lycopene, were also accepted as a substrate by Al-1. In contrast to the structurally related bacterial enzymes, the cofactor involved in the dehydrogenation reaction was NAD for Al-1. In situ competition with a neurosporene- and lycopene-converting hydratase and cyclase indicated that these enzymes can divert intermediates of the desaturation sequence. Based on the in vitro and in vivo results, the organization of the phytoene desaturase from N. crassa was proposed as an assembly of identical protein units which are responsible for the multistep reaction. However, the spatial arrangement should be loose enough to allow an exchange of individual intermediates in both directions in and out of this complex. Since gamma-carotene is not accepted as a substrate by Al-1, the formation of torulene must proceed exclusively by the cyclization of 3,4-didehydrolycopene.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Hausmann
- Biosynthesis Group, Botanical Institute, Goethe University, D-60054 Frankfurt, Germany
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Schmidt-Dannert C, Umeno D, Arnold FH. Molecular breeding of carotenoid biosynthetic pathways. Nat Biotechnol 2000; 18:750-3. [PMID: 10888843 DOI: 10.1038/77319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 219] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
Abstract
The burgeoning demand for complex, biologically active molecules for medicine, materials science, consumer products, and agrochemicals is driving efforts to engineer new biosynthetic pathways into microorganisms and plants. We have applied principles of breeding, including mixing genes and modifying catalytic functions by in vitro evolution, to create new metabolic pathways for biosynthesis of natural products in Escherichia coli. We expressed shuffled phytoene desaturases in the context of a carotenoid biosynthetic pathway assembled from different bacterial species and screened the resulting library for novel carotenoids. One desaturase chimera efficiently introduced six rather than four double bonds into phytoene, to favor production of the fully conjugated carotenoid, 3, 4,3',4'-tetradehydrolycopene. This new pathway was extended with a second library of shuffled lycopene cyclases to produce a variety of colored products. One of the new pathways generates the cyclic carotenoid torulene, for the first time, in E. coli. This combined approach of rational pathway assembly and molecular breeding may allow the discovery and production, in simple laboratory organisms, of new compounds that are essentially inaccessible from natural sources or by synthetic chemistry.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Schmidt-Dannert
- Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA
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Breitenbach J, Kuntz M, Takaichi S, Sandmann G. Catalytic properties of an expressed and purified higher plant type zeta-carotene desaturase from Capsicum annuum. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMISTRY 1999; 265:376-83. [PMID: 10491195 DOI: 10.1046/j.1432-1327.1999.00746.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The zeta-carotene desaturase from Capsicum annuum (EC 1.14.99.-) was expressed in Escherichia coli, purified and characterized biochemically. The enzyme acts as a monomer with lipophilic quinones as cofactors. Km values for the substrate zeta-carotene or the intermediate neurosporene in the two-step desaturation reaction are almost identical. Product analysis showed that different lycopene isomers are formed, including substantial amounts of the all-trans form, together with 7,7',9,9'-tetracis prolycopene via the corresponding neurosporene isomers. The application of different geometric isomers as substrates revealed that the zeta-carotene desaturase has no preference for certain isomers and that the nature of the isomers formed during catalysis depends strictly on the isomeric composition of the substrate.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Breitenbach
- Botanisches Institut, Goethe Universität, Frankfurt, Germany
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33
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Verdoes JC, Misawa N, van Ooyen AJ. Cloning and characterization of the astaxanthin biosynthetic gene encoding phytoene desaturase of Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous. Biotechnol Bioeng 1999; 63:750-5. [PMID: 10397832 DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0290(19990620)63:6<750::aid-bit13>3.0.co;2-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The first carotenoid biosynthetic gene from the basidiomycetous yeast Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous was isolated by heterologous complementation in Escherichia coli. The isolated gene, denominated as crtI, was found to encode for phytoene desaturase. The coding region is interrupted by 11 introns. The deduced amino acid sequence showed significant homology with its bacterial and eukaryotic counterparts, especially those of fungal origin. A plasmid containing the geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase and phytoene synthase encoding genes from Erwinia uredovora was introduced in E. coli together with the phytoene desaturase encoding cDNA from X. dendrorhous. As a result, lycopene accumulation was observed in these transformants. We conclude that in X. dendrorhous the four desaturase steps, by which phytoene is converted into lycopene, are carried out by a single gene product.
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Sandmann G, Albrecht M, Schnurr G, Knörzer O, Böger P. The biotechnological potential and design of novel carotenoids by gene combination in Escherichia coli. Trends Biotechnol 1999; 17:233-7. [PMID: 10354560 DOI: 10.1016/s0167-7799(99)01307-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Carotenoids are antioxidants with considerable pharmaceutical potential. More than 600 carotenoid structures are known but their availability is limited owing to practical difficulties associated with chemical synthesis and isolation from microorganisms or plant tissue. To overcome some of these problems, heterologous expression of carotenoid genes in Escherichia coli can be used for the synthesis of rare derivatives or even of novel carotenoids. Novel and rare carotenoids can be obtained by combining carotenoid genes from different host species in E. coli.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Sandmann
- Biosynthesis Group, Botanical Institute, J.W. Goethe Universität, PO Box 111932, D-60054 Frankfurt, Germany.
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35
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[17] Molecular biology of carotenoid biosynthesis in photosynthetic organisms. Methods Enzymol 1998. [DOI: 10.1016/s0076-6879(98)97019-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/16/2023]
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36
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Albrecht M, Ruther A, Sandmann G. Purification and biochemical characterization of a hydroxyneurosporene desaturase involved in the biosynthetic pathway of the carotenoid spheroidene in Rhodobacter sphaeroides. J Bacteriol 1997; 179:7462-7. [PMID: 9393712 PMCID: PMC179698 DOI: 10.1128/jb.179.23.7462-7467.1997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Hydroxyneurosporene desaturase is involved in the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway of Rhodobacter species. The gene encoding this enzyme was expressed in Escherichia coli, purified, and biochemically characterized. The resulting protein contained an N-terminal six-histidine extension which derived from the cloning vector; this allowed for a one-step purification of the enzyme to homogeneity after solubilization with Nonidet P-40. The hydrogen acceptor in the C-3,4 desaturation reaction was molecular oxygen. NAD+, NADP+, and flavin adenine dinucleotide had no influence on enzymatic activity. Different acyclic 1-hydroxycarotenoids were tested as substrates. Very good conversion was achieved with 1-hydroxyneurosporene and 1-hydroxylycopene, whereas 1-hydroxy-gamma-carotene and 1,1'-dihydroxylycopene were much less effective. From 1'-hydroxy-3,4-didehydrolycopene only trace amounts of product were obtained, and 1-methoxyneurosporene was not converted by purified hydroxyneurosporene desaturase. A Km of 13.4 microM was determined for 1-hydroxyneurosporene.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Albrecht
- Biosynthesis Group, Botanical Institute, J.W. Goethe Universität, Frankfurt, Germany
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37
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Abstract
Carotenoids represent one of the most widely distributed and structurally diverse classes of natural pigments, with important functions in photosynthesis, nutrition, and protection against photooxidative damage. In the eubacterial community, yellow, orange, and red carotenoids are produced by anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria, cyanobacteria, and certain species of nonphotosynthetic bacteria. Many eukaryotes, including all algae and plants, as well as some fungi, also synthesize these pigments. In noncarotenogenic organisms, such as mammals, birds, amphibians, fish, crustaceans, and insects, dietary carotenoids and their metabolites also serve important biological roles. Within the last decade, major advances have been made in the elucidation of the molecular genetics, the biochemistry, and the regulation of eubacterial carotenoid biosynthesis. These developments have important implications for eukaryotes, and they make increasingly attractive the genetic manipulation of carotenoid content for biotechnological purposes.
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Affiliation(s)
- G A Armstrong
- Institute for Plant Sciences, Plant Genetics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zürich.
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38
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Schneider C, Böger P, Sandmann G. Phytoene desaturase: heterologous expression in an active state, purification, and biochemical properties. Protein Expr Purif 1997; 10:175-9. [PMID: 9226712 DOI: 10.1006/prep.1997.0730] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Conditions were developed for heterologous expression in Escherichia coli of the membrane-bound cyanobacterial/plant-type phytoene desaturase (PDS) from Synechococcus in an active form. Decrease of growth temperature for the transformant to 28 degrees C resulted in an increase of proteins in a supernatant fraction obtained after pressure disruption (20 MPa) of cells and centrifugation. This supernatant in which the highest PDS activity was found was used for purification to a homogeneous protein by ammonium sulfate precipitation and DEAE chromatography. The purified PDS was employed to determine substrate specificity and cofactor requirement. Substrates in addition to phytoene were phytofluene and 1,2-epoxy phytoene which were converted to zeta-carotene and the corresponding 1,2-epoxide. The reaction was stimulated by NAD, NADP, and oxygen. The K(m) values determined for phytoene and NADP were 3.5 microM and 14.3 mM, respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Schneider
- Lehrstuhl Physiologie und Biochemie der Pflanzen, Universität Konstanz, Germany
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39
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Fernández-González B, Sandmann G, Vioque A. A new type of asymmetrically acting beta-carotene ketolase is required for the synthesis of echinenone in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. J Biol Chem 1997; 272:9728-33. [PMID: 9092504 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.272.15.9728] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
We have isolated, based on the knowledge of the complete genomic sequence of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, an open reading frame (slr0088) similar to known bacterial carotene desaturases and have analyzed the function of the encoded protein. Surprisingly, this protein has no detectable desaturase activity with phytoene, hydroxyneurosporene, or zeta-carotene as substrates, but is rather a beta-carotene ketolase that acts asymmetrically introducing a keto group on only one of the two beta-ionone rings of beta-carotene to generate echinenone. This is in contrast to the so far characterized beta-carotene ketolases that act symmetrically, producing the di-keto carotenoid canthaxanthin from beta-carotene without significant accumulation of echinenone. We have designated this new gene crtO. The function of the crtO gene product has been demonstrated by 1) the biosynthesis of echinenone when the crtO gene is expressed in an Escherichia coli strain able to accumulate beta-carotene, 2) the in vitro biosynthesis of echinenone from beta-carotene with cell free extracts from E. coli cells that express the crtO gene, and 3) the absence of echinenone in a Synechocystis strain in which the crtO gene has been insertionally inactivated. The primary structure of the Synechocystis asymmetric ketolase bears no similarity with the known beta-carotene ketolases. crtO is not required for normal growth under standard or high light conditions, neither is the photosynthetic activity of the crtO-deficient strain affected.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Fernández-González
- Instituto de Bioquímica Vegetal y Fotosíntesis, Universidad de Sevilla-CSIC, Americo Vespucio s/n, 41092 Sevilla, Spain
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40
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Takaichi S, Sandmann G, Schnurr G, Satomi Y, Suzuki A, Misawa N. The carotenoid 7,8-dihydro-psi end group can be cyclized by the lycopene cyclases from the bacterium Erwinia uredovora and the higher plant Capsicum annuum. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMISTRY 1996; 241:291-6. [PMID: 8898919 DOI: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1996.0291t.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
The genes for geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase (crtE) and phytoene synthase (crtB) from the epiphytic bacterium Erwinia uredovora and the phytoene desaturase gene from the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus (Rc-crtI) were introduced into Escherichia coli, which resulted in the accumulation of the acyclic carotenoid, neurosporene. Further introduction of the lycopene cyclase gene from E. uredovora (crtY) or the higher plant Capsicum annuum (Icy) resulted in the production of a bicyclic carotenoid, 7,8-dihydro-beta-carotene, via monocyclic beta-zeacarotene. zeta-Carotene was also found to be cyclized to bicyclic 7,8,7',8'-tetrahydro-beta-carotene by the Erwinia cyclase. These results indicate that both lycopene cyclases can cyclize a 7,8-dihydro-psi end group to a 7,8-dihydro-beta end group, in addition to the usual cyclization of the psi end group to the beta end group. Furthermore, beta-carotene hydroxylase from Erwinia (CrtZ) was able to add a hydroxyl group to the 7,8-dihydro-beta end group and the beta end group.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Takaichi
- Biological Laboratory, Nippon Medical School, Kawasaki, Japan
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41
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Schnurr G, Misawa N, Sandmann G. Expression, purification and properties of lycopene cyclase from Erwinia uredovora. Biochem J 1996; 315 ( Pt 3):869-74. [PMID: 8645170 PMCID: PMC1217287 DOI: 10.1042/bj3150869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Lycopene cyclase, an enzyme responsible for the formation of cyclic carotenoids from acyclic precursors has been purified to homogeneity in an active state. The Erwinia uredovora lycopene cyclase gene (crtY) was over-expressed in Escherichia coli. From this recombinant strain the enzyme was purified by immuno-affinity chromatography and its cyclization activity characterized as a two-step reaction in which both sides of the lycopene molecule are cyclized to beta-ionone rings with the monocyclic gamma-carotene as an intermediate. Furthermore, neurosporene as well as l-hydroxylycopene were cyclized to beta-zeacarotene and hydroxy-gamma-carotene respectively. In contrast, neither 1,1'- dihydroxylycopene nor the tetra-cis-prolycopene were accepted as substrates. The cofactors involved in the reaction were either NADH or NADPH. K(m) values were determined for lycopene and NADPH to be 1.8 microM and 2.5 mM respectively.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Schnurr
- Lehrstuhl für Physiologie und Biochemie der Pflanzen, Universität Konstanz, Federal Republic of Germany
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42
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Albrecht M, Linden H, Sandmann G. Biochemical characterization of purified zeta-carotene desaturase from Anabaena PCC 7120 after expression in Escherichia coli. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMISTRY 1996; 236:115-20. [PMID: 8617254 DOI: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1996.00115.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
A novel enzyme, zeta-carotene desaturase from the cyanobacterium Anabaena, which catalyzes the last two steps in a series of desaturations, was overexpressed in Escherichia coli. For the first time, this allowed the purification of this enzyme and subsequent enzyme kinetic studies. The enzyme was solubilized from the E. coli membranes by Chaps and purified to homogeneity by ammonium sulfate precipitation, ion-exchange and hydrophobic interaction chromatography. The correct translational start was confirmed by N-terminal protein sequencing. Substrates for zeta-carotene desaturase apart from zeta-carotene are those carotenes which partially resemble the latter, like neurosporene and beta-zeacarotene yielding lycopene and gamma-carotene, respectively as reaction products. Also cis isomers like pro-zeta-carotene were converted to the corresponding products. Km values of 10 microM were determined for both substrates zeta-carotene and neurosporene. The enzyme was inhibited to some extent by the experimental herbicides J852 and LS80707 and also by diphenylamine which is a well-known inhibitor of the bacterial-type phytoene desaturase.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Albrecht
- Botanisches Institut, J.W.Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt, Germany
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43
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Li ZH, Matthews PD, Burr B, Wurtzel ET. Cloning and characterization of a maize cDNA encoding phytoene desaturase, an enzyme of the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway. PLANT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 1996; 30:269-279. [PMID: 8616251 DOI: 10.1007/bf00020113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/22/2023]
Abstract
To study regulation of the plastid-localized maize carotenoid biosynthetic pathway, a cDNA encoding phytoene desaturase (PDS) was isolated and characterized. The DNA sequence of the maize Pds cDNA was determined and compared with available dicot Pds genes. The deduced PDS protein, estimated at 64.1 kDa (unprocessed), had a dinucleotide binding domain and conserved regions characteristic of other carotene desaturases. Alignment of available PDS sequences from distantly related organisms suggests that Pds has potential as a phylogenetic tool. By use of heterologous complementation in Escherichia coli, maize PDS was shown to catalyze two desaturation steps converting phytoene to zeta-carotene. RFLP (restriction fragment length polymorphism) mapping was used to place Pds on chromosome 1S near viviparous5 (vp5), and RT-PCR (reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction) analysis indicated reduced Pds transcript in vp5 mutant relative to normal endosperm. Other phytoene-accumulating mutant endosperms, vp2 and white3 (w3), showed no difference in Pds transcript accumulation as compared with normal endosperm counterparts. RT-PCR analysis of Pds transcript accumulation in developing endosperm showed Pds was constitutively expressed. Therefore, endosperm carotenogensis is not regulated by increasing the level of Pds transcripts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Z H Li
- Department of Biological Sciences, Lehman College, The City University of New York, West Bronx, NY 10468, USA
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44
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Misawa N, Satomi Y, Kondo K, Yokoyama A, Kajiwara S, Saito T, Ohtani T, Miki W. Structure and functional analysis of a marine bacterial carotenoid biosynthesis gene cluster and astaxanthin biosynthetic pathway proposed at the gene level. J Bacteriol 1995; 177:6575-84. [PMID: 7592436 PMCID: PMC177511 DOI: 10.1128/jb.177.22.6575-6584.1995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 311] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
A carotenoid biosynthesis gene cluster for the production of astaxanthin was isolated from the marine bacterium Agrobacterium aurantiacum. This cluster contained five carotenogenic genes with the same orientation, which were designated crtW, crtZ, crtY, crtI, and crtB. The stop codons of individual crt genes except for crtB overlapped the start codons of the following crt genes. Escherichia coli transformants carrying the Erwinia uredovora carotenoid biosynthesis genes provide suitable substrates for carotenoid biosynthesis. The functions of the five crt genes of A. aurantiacum were determined through chromatographic and spectroscopic analyses of the pigments accumulated in some E. coli transformants carrying various combinations of the E. uredovora and A. aurantiacum carotenogenic genes. As a result, the astaxanthin biosynthetic pathway is proposed for the first time at the level of the biosynthesis genes. The crtW and crtZ gene products, which mediated the oxygenation reactions from beta-carotene to astaxanthin, were found to have low substrate specificity. This allowed the production of many presumed intermediates of astaxanthin, i.e., adonixanthin, phoenicoxanthin (adonirubin), canthaxanthin, 3'-hydroxyechinenone, and 3-hydroxyechinenone.
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Affiliation(s)
- N Misawa
- Central Laboratories for Key Technology, Kirin Brewery Co., Ltd., Kanagawa, Japan
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45
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Botella JA, Murillo FJ, Ruiz-Vázquez R. A cluster of structural and regulatory genes for light-induced carotenogenesis in Myxococcus xanthus. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF BIOCHEMISTRY 1995; 233:238-48. [PMID: 7588751 DOI: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1995.238_1.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
In the bacterium Myxococcus xanthus, several genes for carotenoid synthesis lie together at the carA-carB chromosomal locus and are co-ordinately activated by blue light. A 12-kb DNA stretch from wild-type M. xanthus has been sequenced that includes the entire carA-carB gene cluster. According to sequence analysis, the cluster contains 11 different genes. Intergenic distances are very short or nil (implying translational coupling), giving further support to previous evidence indicating that most (or all) of the genes in the cluster form a single operon. At the promoter region, a potential -35 site for the binding of sigma factors is found. However, the -10 region shows little similarity with analogous sites in other bacterial promoters. Five (possibly six) genes in the carA-carB operon code for enzymes acting on early or late steps of the pathway for carotenoid synthesis. Other genes in the operon show no overall similarity with previously known genes. However, peptide stretches in the predicted products of two genes exhibit strong similarity with the DNA binding domain of the MerR family of transcriptional regulators. At least one of the predicted DNA-binding domains is altered in a mutant strain affected in light-regulation of the car genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- J A Botella
- Departamento de Genética y Microbiología, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia, Spain
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46
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Albrecht M, Klein A, Hugueney P, Sandmann G, Kuntz M. Molecular cloning and functional expression in E. coli of a novel plant enzyme mediating zeta-carotene desaturation. FEBS Lett 1995; 372:199-202. [PMID: 7556669 DOI: 10.1016/0014-5793(95)00978-i] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
We have cloned a cDNA from the plant Capsicum annuum which encodes a novel enzyme mediating the dehydrogenation of zeta-carotene and neurosporene to lycopene when expressed in E. coli cells accumulating zeta-carotene or neurosporene. This enzyme is unable to dehydrogenate either phytoene or lycopene. The deduced amino acid sequence suggests that this cDNA encodes a polypeptide whose mature size is ca. 59 kDa and which is synthesized as a precursor with a NH2-terminal extension resembling transit peptides for plastid targeting. Sequence comparison reveals 33-35% similarity with previously cloned plant or cyanobacterial phytoene desaturases. In contrast, only limited sequence similarity is found with a zeta-carotene desaturase from the cyanobacterium Anabaena.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Albrecht
- Biosynthesis Group, Fachbereich Biologie, J.W. Goethe Universität, Frankfurt, Germany
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47
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Lang HP, Cogdell RJ, Gardiner AT, Hunter CN. Early steps in carotenoid biosynthesis: sequences and transcriptional analysis of the crtI and crtB genes of Rhodobacter sphaeroides and overexpression and reactivation of crtI in Escherichia coli and R. sphaeroides. J Bacteriol 1994; 176:3859-69. [PMID: 8021167 PMCID: PMC205582 DOI: 10.1128/jb.176.13.3859-3869.1994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
In the purple photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides, the desaturation of phytoene has already been implicated in the assembly of the light-harvesting 2 complex (H.P. Lang and C.N. Hunter, Biochem. J. 298:197-205, 1994). The phytoene synthase and desaturase enzymes mediate the first steps specific for carotenoid biosynthesis up to and including the synthesis of the colored carotenoid neurosporene. In this report, we present the DNA and deduced amino acid sequences of the genes encoding these proteins, namely, crtB and crtI, from R. sphaeroides and present evidence for the existence of a crtIB operon. Both genes have been shown to possess putative puc and puf operon-like promoter sequences, and oxygen regulation and the point of initiation of the crtI transcript have been demonstrated. The complete crtI gene has been overexpressed in Escherichia coli and R. sphaeroides and shown to catalyze three desaturations of phytoene to give neurosporene. This activity was shown to be ATP dependent, and the cofactor requirement was investigated by using a spectroscopic assay for in vitro carotenogenic activity. Although the crtI and crtB genes have been sequenced from a number of different organisms, the transcriptional organization and regulation of these genes have not been analyzed in detail. In this report, we have located the transcription initiation point and have shown that R. sphaeroides possesses an oxygen-regulated CrtI-type phytoene desaturase gene that forms a transcriptional operon with crtB.
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Affiliation(s)
- H P Lang
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Robert Hill Institute for Photosynthesis, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, United Kingdom
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48
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Affiliation(s)
- G Sandmann
- Botanisches Institut, FB Biologie, J.W. Goethe Universität, Frankfurt, Germany
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49
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Fraser PD, Bramley PM. The purification of phytoene dehydrogenase from Phycomyces blakesleeanus. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA 1994; 1212:59-66. [PMID: 8155727 DOI: 10.1016/0005-2760(94)90189-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
The carotenogenic enzyme phytoene dehydrogenase has been purified from the C9carR21(-) (lycopene-accumulating) mutant of the filamentous fungus Phycomyces blakesleeanus. Solubilization of the membrane-bound enzyme with 1% Tween-60 was followed by a 250-fold purification to homogeneity using polyethylene glycol precipitation, CM-Sepharose, gel filtration and isoelectric focusing. Multiple peaks of enzymic activity were found in eluates from ion-exchange and gel filtration chromatography, with the lowest molecular weight fraction having an apparent molecular mass of approx. 14 kDa. All active fractions catalyzed the dehydrogenation of 15-cis phytoene into all-trans lycopene, with a cis-trans isomerization occurring at phytofluene. Both NADP+ and FAD were required for the dehydrogenation reaction. The presence of > 0.5% Tween-60 was necessary to maintain enzymic activity, although in its absence lipids restored some activity. The enzyme could be stored for at least 6 weeks at -70 degrees C in the presence of 20% (v/v) glycerol.
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Affiliation(s)
- P D Fraser
- Department of Biochemistry, University of London, Egham, Surrey, UK
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50
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Mann V, Pecker I, Hirschberg J. Cloning and characterization of the gene for phytoene desaturase (Pds) from tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum). PLANT MOLECULAR BIOLOGY 1994; 24:429-34. [PMID: 8123786 DOI: 10.1007/bf00024111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
The gene Pds encodes phytoene desaturase, a key enzyme in carotenoid biosynthesis that converts phytoene to zeta-carotene. We have cloned and analyzed the genomic DNA sequence of Pds from tomato. In tomato Pds is comprised of 15 exons that, together with the introns occupy over 8 kb. A putative promoter sequence has been identified by comparison with the cDNA sequence of Pds. A consensus nucleotide sequence around intron splicing sites in tomato genes was determined by compiling data on 137 introns in 34 genes. This consensus sequence generally agrees with the consensus sequence of other higher plants with only minor differences that are unique to tomato.
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Affiliation(s)
- V Mann
- Department of Genetics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
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