Abstract
Apocarotenoids are carotenoid-derived compounds widespread in all major taxonomic groups, where they play important roles in different physiological processes. In addition, apocarotenoids include compounds with high economic value in food and cosmetics industries. Apocarotenoid biosynthesis starts with the action of carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases (CCDs), a family of non-heme iron enzymes that catalyze the oxidative cleavage of carbon–carbon double bonds in carotenoid backbones through a similar molecular mechanism, generating aldehyde or ketone groups in the cleaving ends. From the identification of the first CCD enzyme in plants, an increasing number of CCDs have been identified in many other species, including microorganisms, proving to be a ubiquitously distributed and evolutionarily conserved enzymatic family. This review focuses on CCDs from plants, algae, fungi, and bacteria, describing recent progress in their functions and regulatory mechanisms in relation to the different roles played by the apocarotenoids in these organisms.
Highlights
Carotenoids are a large group of terpenoid fat-soluble pigments widely distributed in nature
Apocarotenoid biosynthesis starts with the action of carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases (CCDs), a family of non-heme iron enzymes that catalyze the oxidative cleavage of carbon–carbon double bonds in carotenoid backbones through a similar molecular mechanism, generating aldehyde or ketone groups in the cleaving ends
This review focuses on CCDs from plants, algae, fungi, and bacteria, describing recent progress in their functions and regulatory mechanisms in relation to the different roles played by the apocarotenoids in these organisms
Summary
Carotenoids are a large group of terpenoid fat-soluble pigments widely distributed in nature They are abundantly present in plants, where they are masked by the green color of chlorophyll, but they are responsible for the yellow, orange, or reddish colors of many fruits and flowers. Carotenoids exert important biological functions in most living organisms, usually related with their photoprotective and light-absorbing properties Their functions are especially relevant in plants, algae, cyanobacteria, and anoxygenic prototrophic bacteria [4,6,7], where they are indispensable in photosynthesis because of their light harvesting and protecting roles [8]. Apocarotenoids are usually the result of a biologically active process, resulting from the action of specific carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases (CCDs), frequently referred to as oxygenases (CCOs), a family of non-heme iron-type enzymes that cleave double bonds in the conjugated carbon chain of carotenoids [10]. The members of the nine-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenases (NCED) subfamily responsible for the specific cleavage of 9-cis-epoxycarotenoids and involved in the production of abscisic acid (ABA) are not included in this review since it has been the subject of numerous studies and their activities and functions are well known [12,13,14,15,16,17,18]
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