Synthetic-biological approach for production of neoxanthin in .

Carotenoids are isoprenoid pigments produced typically in plants, algae, and part of bacteria and fungi. Violaxanthin, neoxanthin, and lutein are xanthophylls biosynthesized specifically in land plants and part of algae. Nowadays, it is feasible to produce violaxanthin and lutein in by pathway engineering, whereas there is no report to synthesize neoxanthin in . So far, several genes have been reported to code for neoxanthin synthases, e.g., NSY (NXS), ABA4 and VDL, which were assigned to catalyze a reaction for forming neoxanthin from violaxanthin. However, neither gene of these was common in plants or algae that biosynthesize neoxanthin, nor was confirmed by the complementation system. This study showed that the algal gene () was functional in recombinant cells accumulating violaxanthin to produce neoxanthin, whereas the cells failed to generate neoxanthin, when the or gene was introduced there instead of . This result notes that is one of veritable neoxanthin synthase genes.