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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Ithaca, New York » Robert W. Holley Center for Agriculture & Health » Plant, Soil and Nutrition Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #397498

Research Project: Genetics, Epigenetics, Genomics, and Biotechnology for Fruit and Vegetable Quality

Location: Plant, Soil and Nutrition Research

Title: Plant carotenoids: recent advances and future perspectives

Author
item SUN, TIANHU - Cornell University
item RAO, SOMBIR - Cornell University
item ZHOU, XUESONG - Cornell University
item Li, Li

Submitted to: Review Article
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/3/2022
Publication Date: 1/21/2022
Citation: Sun, T., Rao, S., Zhou, X., Li, L. 2022. Plant carotenoids: recent advances and future perspectives. Molecular Horticulture. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43897-022-00023-2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s43897-022-00023-2

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Carotenoids are isoprenoid metabolites synthesized de novo in all photosynthetic organisms. Carotenoids are essential for plants with diverse functions in photosynthesis, photoprotection, pigmentation, phytohormone synthesis, and signaling. They are also critically important for humans as precursors of vitamin A synthesis and as dietary antioxidants. The vital roles of carotenoids to plants and humans have prompted significant progress toward our understanding of carotenoid metabolism and regulation. New regulators and novel roles of carotenoid metabolites are continuously revealed. This review focuses on current status of carotenoid metabolism and highlights recent advances in comprehension of the intrinsic and multi-dimensional regulation of carotenoid accumulation. We also discuss the functional evolution of carotenoids, the agricultural and horticultural application, and some key areas for future research.