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-ζ-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.
在食品作物中代谢工程改良植物类胡萝卜素是近年来提高人类健康的重点。通路调控基于对这个生物合成通路的全面了解,这个通路已经被广泛研究。然而,存在一种被认为是可以通过光线补偿的附加生物合成步骤,因此被认为是可以省略的。这个步骤由一个假定的Z-ISO介导,预测在与电子传递链相耦合的氧化还原反应序列中发生,并将无色的15-顺-类胡萝卜烯转化为红色的全反-番茄红素。在没有光的情况下的类胡萝卜素合成之谜(例如在胚乳中,这是提高营养含量的目标)表明Z-ISO是通路所必需的。因此,对植物类胡萝卜素生物合成的理解显然是不完整的。为了证明Z-ISO的存在,分离了玉米(Zea mays)和拟南芥(Arabidopsis thaliana)突变体,并鉴定了该基因。在大肠杆菌中对基因产物进行功能测试,证明Z-ISO编码了缺失的步骤,即在9,15,9'-三顺-ζ-胡萝卜烯中异构化15-顺双键。Z-ISO对光照和“暗”组织都很重要。比较基因组揭示了Z-ISO在高等植物、低等植物、藻类、硅藻和蓝藻中的起源。Z-ISO起源于与细菌反硝化所需的NnrU(用于亚硝酸盐和一氧化氮还原酶U)基因相关的祖先,该通路产生氮氧化物作为无氧生长的替代电子受体。因此,植物类胡萝卜素合成通过从非类胡萝卜素合成细菌中招募基因而进化。