Skip Navigation



JXB Advance Access published online on November 3, 2009
Journal of Experimental Botany, doi:10.1093/jxb/erp284
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Devitt, L. C.
Right arrow Articles by Holton, T. A.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Devitt, L. C.
Right arrow Articles by Holton, T. A.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Devitt, L. C.
Right arrow Articles by Holton, T. A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© 2009 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This paper is available online free of all access charges (see http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/open_access.html for further details)

RESEARCH PAPER

Isolation and functional characterization of a lycopene β-cyclase gene that controls fruit colour of papaya (Carica papaya L.)

Luke C. Devitt1,2, Kent Fanning3, Ralf G. Dietzgen1,2 and Timothy A. Holton1,*

1Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI), Primary Industries and Fisheries, Queensland Agricultural Biotechnology Centre, PO Box 6097, Australia
2The University of Queensland, School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, St Lucia QLD 4067, Australia
3DEEDI, Primary Industries and Fisheries, Innovative Food Technologies, Hamilton QLD 4007, Australia

* To whom correspondence should be addressed: E-mail: tholton{at}uq.edu.au

The colour of papaya fruit flesh is determined largely by the presence of carotenoid pigments. Red-fleshed papaya fruit contain lycopene, whilst this pigment is absent from yellow-fleshed fruit. The conversion of lycopene (red) to β-carotene (yellow) is catalysed by lycopene β-cyclase. This present study describes the cloning and functional characterization of two different genes encoding lycopene β-cyclases (lcy-β1 and lcy-β2) from red (Tainung) and yellow (Hybrid 1B) papaya cultivars. A mutation in the lcy-β2 gene, which inactivates enzyme activity, controls lycopene production in fruit and is responsible for the difference in carotenoid production between red and yellow-fleshed papaya fruit. The expression level of both lcy-β1 and lcy-β2 genes is similar and low in leaves, but lcy-β2 expression increases markedly in ripe fruit. Isolation of the lcy-β2 gene from papaya, that is preferentially expressed in fruit and is correlated with fruit colour, will facilitate marker-assisted breeding for fruit colour in papaya and should create possibilities for metabolic engineering of carotenoid production in papaya fruit to alter both colour and nutritional properties.

Key words: Carotenoid, lycopene, lycopene β-cyclase, papaya fruit

Received 12 June 2009; Revised 4 August 2009 Accepted 4 August 2009


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.