Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

An update on carotenoid biosynthesis in algae: phylogenetic evidence for the existence of two classes of phytoene synthase

  • Short Communication
  • Published:
Planta Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Carotenoids play crucial roles in structure and function of the photosynthetic apparatus of bacteria, algae, and higher plants. The entry-step reaction to carotenoid biosynthesis is catalyzed by the phytoene synthase (PSY), which is structurally and functionally related in all organisms. A comparative genomic analysis regarding the PSY revealed that the green algae Ostreococcus and Micromonas possess two orthologous copies of the PSY genes, indicating an ancient gene duplication event that produced two classes of PSY in algae. However, some other green algae (Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, Chlorella vulgaris, and Volvox carteri), red algae (Cyanidioschyzon merolae), diatoms (Thalassiosira pseudonana and Phaeodactylum tricornutum), and higher plants retained only one class of the PSY gene whereas the other gene copy was lost in these species. Further, similar to the situation in higher plants recent gene duplications of PSY have occurred for example in the green alga Dunaliella salina/bardawil. As members of the PSY gene families in some higher plants are differentially regulated during development or stress, the discovery of two classes of PSY gene families in some algae suggests that carotenoid biosynthesis in these algae is differentially regulated in response to development and environmental stress as well.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Abbreviations

PSY:

Phytoene synthase

References

  • Armstrong GA, Hearst JE (1996) Genetics and molecular biology of carotenoid pigment biosynthesis. FASEB J 10(2):228–237

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bartley GE, Scolnik P (1993) cDNA cloning, expression during development, and genome mapping of PSY2, a second tomato gene encoding phytoene synthase. J Biochem 268(34):25718–25721

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bartley GE, Viitanen PV, Bacot KO, Scolnik PA (1992) A tomato gene expressed during fruit ripening encodes an enzyme of the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway. J Biol Chem 267(8):5036–5039

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharya D, Medlin L (1998) Algal phylogeny and the origin of land plants. Plant Physiol 116:9–15

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bohne F, Linden H (2002) Regulation of carotenoid biosynthesis genes in response to light in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Biochim Biophys Acta 1579:26–34

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Boore JL (2008) Detecting evolutionary transfer of genes using PhIGs. J Phycol 44:19–22

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Braun EL, Phillips N (2008) Phylogenomics and secondary plastids: a look back and a look ahead. J Phycol 44:2–6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buckner B, Miguel PS, Janick-Buckner D, Bennetzent JL (1996) The yl gene of maize codes for Phytoene Synthase. Genetics 143:479–488

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chen Q, Jiang JG, Wang F (2007) Molecular phylogenies and evolution of crt genes in algae. Crit Rev Biotechnol 27:77–91

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham FX, Gantt E (1998) Genes and enzymes of carotenoid biosynthesis in plants. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 49:557–583

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • DellaPenna D, Pogson BJ (2006) Vitamin synthesis in plants: tocopherols and carotenoids. Annu Rev Plant Biol 57:711–738

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Felsenstein J (1989) PHYLIP—phylogeny inference package, version 3.2. Cladistics 5:164–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Force A, Lynch M (1999) Preservation of duplicate genes by complementary, degenerative mutations. Genetics 151(4):1531–1545

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fraser PD, Bramley PM (2004) The biosynthesis and nutritional uses of carotenoids. Prog Lipid Res 43:228–265

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goodwin TW (1980) The biochemistry of carotenoids. Chapman & Hall, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallagher CE, Matthews PD, Faqiang L, Wurtzel ET (2004) Gene duplication in the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway preceded evolution of the grasses (Poaceae). Plant Physiol 135:1776–1783

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hirschberg J, Cohen M, Harker M, Lotan T, Mann V, Pecker I (1997) Molecular genetics of the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway in plants and algae. Pure Appl Chem 69(10):2151–2158

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huelsenbeck JP, Ronquist F (2001) MRBAYES—Bayesian inference of phylogenetic trees. Bioinformatics 17(8):754–755

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li F, Vallabhaneni R, Wurtzel ET (2008a) PSY3, a new member of the phytoene synthase gene family conserved in the Poaceae and a key regulator of abiotic-stress-induced root carotenogenesis. Plant Physiol 146(3):1333–1345

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Li F, Vallabhaneni R, Yu J, Rocheford T, Wurtzel ET (2008b) The maize phytoene synthase gene family: overlapping roles for carotenogenesis in endosperm, photomorphogenesis, and thermal stress-tolerance. Plant Physiol 147:1334–1346

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lichtenthaler HK (1999) The 1-Deoxy-d-Xylulose-5-Phosphate pathway of isoprenoid biosynthesis in plants. Annu Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 50:47–65

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lichtenthaler HK (2007) Biosynthesis, accumulation and emission of carotenoids, α-tocopherol, plastoquinone, and isoprene in leaves under high photosynthetic irradiance. Photosynth Res 92(2):163–179

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lindgren LO, Stålberg KG, Hoglund AS (2003) Seed specific overexpression of an endogenous Arabidopsis phytoene synthase gene results in delayed germination and increased levels of carotenoids, chlorophyll, and abscisic acid. Plant Physiol 132:779–785

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lohr M, Im C-S, Grossman AR (2005) Genome-based examination of chlorophyll and carotenoid biosynthesis in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Plant Physiol 138(1):490–515

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy SS, Kobayashi MC, Niyogi KK (2004) White mutants of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii are defective in phytoene synthase. Genetics 168(3):1249–1257

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Salvini M, Salvinia M, Bernini A, Fambrini M, Pugliesi C (2005) cDNA cloning and expression of the phytoene synthase gene in sunflower. Plant Physiol 162:479–484

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Steinbrenner J, Linden H (2001) Regulation of two carotenoid biosynthesis genes coding for phytoene synthase and carotenoid hydroxylase during stress-induced astaxanthin formation in the Green Alga Haematococcus pluvialis. Plant Physiol 125:810–817

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Steinbrenner J, Linden H (2003) Light induction of carotenoid biosynthesis genes in the green alga Haematococcus pluvialis: regulation by photosynthetic redox control. Plant Mol Biol 52:343–356

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson JD, Higgins DG, Gibson TJ (1994) CLUSTAL W—improving the sensitivity of progressive multiple sequence alignment through sequence weighting, position-specific gap penalties and weight matrix choice. Nucleic Acids Res 22(22):4673–4680

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yan Y, Zhu YH, Jiang JG, Song DL (2005) Cloning and sequence analysis of the phytoene synthase gene from a unicellular Chlorophyte, Dunaliella salina. J Agric Food Chem 53:1466–1469

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowlegments

The authors thank Ms. Jasmeen Kaur for her work on cloning of the psy from D. bardawil. Dr. Polle received partial support for this work through the PSC-CUNY grant no. 65239-0034.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, 2900 Bedford Avenue 200NE, Brooklyn, NY, 11210, USA

    Duc Tran & Juergen E. W. Polle

  2. Department of Biology, St John’s University, 8000 Utopia Parkway Jamaica, New York, NY, 11439, USA

    Duc Tran

  3. Department of Biological Sciences, Hunter College of the City University of New York, 695 Park Avenue, New York, NY, 10065, USA

    James Haven & Wei-Gang Qiu

Authors
  1. Duc Tran
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. James Haven
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Wei-Gang Qiu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Juergen E. W. Polle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Juergen E. W. Polle.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Tran, D., Haven, J., Qiu, WG. et al. An update on carotenoid biosynthesis in algae: phylogenetic evidence for the existence of two classes of phytoene synthase. Planta 229, 723–729 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-008-0866-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-008-0866-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation