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Metabolic engineering of astaxanthin production in tobacco flowers

Nature Biotechnology volume 18, pages 888–892 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

Using metabolic engineering, we have modified the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) to produce astaxanthin, a red pigment of considerable economic value. To alter the carotenoid pathway in chromoplasts of higher plants, the cDNA of the gene CrtO from the alga Haematococcus pluvialis, encoding β-carotene ketolase, was transferred to tobacco under the regulation of the tomato Pds (phytoene desaturase) promoter. The transit peptide of PDS from tomato was used to target the CRTO polypeptide to the plastids. Chromoplasts in the nectary tissue of transgenic plants accumulated (3S,3′S) astaxanthin and other ketocarotenoids, changing the color of the nectary from yellow to red. This accomplishment demonstrates that plants can be used as a source of novel carotenoid pigments such as astaxanthin. The procedures described in this work can serve as a platform technology for future genetic manipulations of pigmentation of fruits and flowers of horticultural and floricultural importance.

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Figure 1: Biochemical pathway of astaxanthin biosynthesis from β-carotene.
Figure 2: Import of PDS into chloroplasts.
Figure 3
Figure 4: Color change in the flowers of transgenic plants expressing CrtO .

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. E. Harel and Mrs. E. Ne'eman for their advice and help in the protein import experiments, and Dr. A. Young for supplying the carotenoid standards. M.H. was a recipient of the Golda Meir postdoctoral fellowship. This research was carried out under the auspices of the Avron-Evenari Minerva Center of Photosynthesis Research, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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  1. Mark Harker

    Present address: Unilever Research, Colworth House Laboratory, Colworth House, Sharnbrook, Bedford, MK44 1LQ, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics, The Life Sciences Institute The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 91904 , Israel

    Varda Mann, Mark Harker, Iris Pecker & Joseph Hirschberg

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  1. Varda Mann
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Correspondence to Joseph Hirschberg.

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Mann, V., Harker, M., Pecker, I. et al. Metabolic engineering of astaxanthin production in tobacco flowers. Nat Biotechnol 18, 888–892 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/78515

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