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Cloning and selection of carotenoid ketolase genes for the engineering of high-yield astaxanthin in plants

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An Erratum to this article was published on 25 May 2012

Abstract

β-Carotene ketolase (BKT) catalyzes the rate-limiting steps for the biosynthesis of astaxanthin. Several bkt genes have been isolated and explored to modify plant carotenoids to astaxanthin with limited success. In this study, five algal BKT cDNAs were isolated and characterized for the engineering of high-yield astaxanthin in plants. The products of the cDNAs showed high similarity in sequence and enzymatic activity of converting β-carotene into canthaxanthin. However, the enzymes exhibited extremely different activities in converting zeaxanthin into astaxanthin. Chlamydomonas reinhardtii BKT showed the highest conversion rate (ca 85 %), whereas, Neochloris wimmeri BKT exhibited very poor activity of ketolating zeaxanthin. Expression of C. reinhardtii BKT in tobacco led to a twofold increase of total carotenoids in the leaves with astaxanthin being the predominant. The bkt genes described here provide a valuable resource for metabolic engineering of plants as cell factories for astaxanthin production.

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Abbreviations

BKT:

β-Carotene ketolase

CHYb:

β-Carotene hydroxylase

HPLC:

High-performance liquid chromatography

RACE:

Rapid amplification of cDNA ends

RT-PCR:

Reverse transcriptase-PCR

WT:

Wild type

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant from Kunming Institute of Botany of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the “985” project of Peking University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China

    Junchao Huang

  2. School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Yujuan Zhong & Jin Liu

  3. Biosynthesis Group, Molecular Biosciences, J.W. Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany

    Gerhard Sandmann

  4. Institute for Food and Bioresource Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China

    Feng Chen

Authors
  1. Junchao Huang
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  2. Yujuan Zhong
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  3. Gerhard Sandmann
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  4. Jin Liu
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  5. Feng Chen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Feng Chen.

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Huang, J., Zhong, Y., Sandmann, G. et al. Cloning and selection of carotenoid ketolase genes for the engineering of high-yield astaxanthin in plants. Planta 236, 691–699 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-012-1654-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00425-012-1654-6

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