Gene structure and potential regulation of the lycopene cyclase genes in L.

Unlabelled: Lycopene cyclases (LCYs) are a key branching point in regulating the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway in plants. L. is characterized by the presence in its seed of bixin, an apocarotenoid of significant importance in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. Gene analysis provides the opportunity to investigate the gene structure in plant species and its relationship with the synthesis of carotenoids. Coding sequences of the genes were retrieved from a genome DNA. and genes exhibit 100% of identity to their respective cDNA accessions, and exhibit a single coding region of 1512 bp (504 aa) and 1495 bp (498 aa), respectively. In contrast, gene shows a coding region of 1581 bp (527 aa) with 10 introns of diverse lengths. Putative Transcription Factors (TFs) binding sites were upstream (3000 bp) identified for each gene. TFs cover two groups, one with the categories of photosynthesis, reproduction, and oxidative processes that are frequent. The second one with the categories of defense, cell cycle, signaling, and carbohydrate metabolism, which are poorly represented. Besides, repetitive DNA elements showed motifs and proteins related to LTR from the Ty3/Gypsy family, were associated with the TFs regions. In general, TFs vary in the different genes, being more abundant in the gene. expression analyzed from a transcriptome database, and validated by RT-qPCR, shows an upregulation of the three , mainly oriented to the synthesis of essential carotenoids in photosynthetic tissues (leaves), as well as an upregulation of the gene in the non-photosynthetic tissues (firsts seed development stages) related to the bixin accumulation.

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-023-01384-8.