Regulation of Carotenoid Metabolism in Tomato

Abstract

Carotenoids serve diverse functions in vastly different organisms that both produce and consume them. Enhanced carotenoid accumulation is of great importance in the visual and functional properties of fruits and vegetables. Significant progress has been achieved in recent years in our understanding of carotenoid biosynthesis in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) using biochemical and genetics approaches. The carotenoid metabolic network is temporally and spatially controlled, and plants have evolved strategic tactics to regulate carotenoid metabolism in response to various developmental and environmental factors. In this review, we summarize the current status of studies on transcription factors and phytohormones that regulate carotenoid biosynthesis, catabolism, and storage capacity in plastids, as well as the responses of carotenoid metabolism to environmental cues in tomato fruits. Transcription factors function either in cooperation with or independently of phytohormone signaling to regulate carotenoid metabolism, providing novel approaches for metabolic engineering of carotenoid composition and content in tomato.

Comparative analysis of plant lycopene cyclases

“…It is well known that Z. mays is the model monocot and important food resource (Suwarno et al, 2015), O. sativa is the model monocot (Garg et al, 2010), and S. lycopersicum is sequenced genome and model organism for caretenoid studies (Pecker et al, 1996;Ronen et al, 1999;Rosati et al, 2000;Liu et al, 2015). Furthermore, V. vinifera is recently sequenced genome (Velasco et al, 2007;Jaillon et al, 2007) and carotenoid content of grapevine berries has received much attention (Young et al, 2012).…”

Diallel Analysis for Lycopene Content in the Hybrids Derived from Different Colored Parents in Tomato

“…Tomato fruit color can largely be explained by mutations in the carotenoid pathway. A brief overview of the pathway follows (for a more complete review see Lu and Li [2]): yellow flesh (r-mutants) caused by a mutation in phytoene synthase (PSY) [3] [4], tangerine flesh color (t-mutants) caused by mutations in prolycopene isomerase (CrtISO), accumulation of lycopene resulting in deep red fruit (og/og c ) caused by mutations in β-cyclase [5] [6] and pink tomatoes caused by the y mutation which makes the fruit epidermis clear instead of yellow [7]. Lycopene is an important color pigment since the amount of lycopene is determined based on color intensity, particularly red component of the tomato.…”

Synthesis and reactivity of a 4His enzyme model complex

“…5 Along with carotenoids being essential in plants, carotenoid-derived products serve as important sources of bioactive compounds called apocarotenoids. 6 Apocarotenoids serve as pigments, hormones (abscisic acid and strigolactones), 7 aroma and scent compounds, regulatory compounds and molecules with yet to be determined functions. Carotenoids are also present in various fungi and heterotrophic bacteria as well as all photosynthetic organisms.…”