Plant carotenoid cleavage oxygenases and their apocarotenoid products

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The oxidative cleavage of carotenoids leads to the production of apocarotenoids and is catalyzed by a family of carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases (CCDs). CCDs often exhibit substrate promiscuity, which probably contributes to the diversity of apocarotenoids found in nature. Biologically and commercially important apocarotenoids include the phytohormone abscisic acid, the visual and signaling molecules retinal and retinoic acid, and the aromatic volatile β-ionone. Unexpected properties associated with the CCD catalytic products emphasize their role in many aspects of plant growth and development. For instance, CCD7 and CCD8 produce a novel, graft-transmissible hormone that controls axillary shoot growth in plants. Here, CCDs are discussed according to their roles in the biosynthesis of these products. Recent studies regarding their mechanism of action are also addressed.

Section snippets

Introduction: history of carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases

Vitamin A synthesis via β-carotene metabolism was first shown in 1930 [1]. In 1965, Olson and Hayaishi [2] and Goodman and Huang [3] independently reported the enzymatic cleavage of β-carotene using crude enzyme fractions isolated from rat liver and intestines. It took another thirty years, however, before an enzyme with carotenoid cleavage activity was isolated. A screen for viviparous maize seeds led to the cloning of VP14 [4, 5], a gene encoding a protein that has sequence homology to

The roles of CCDs in plant biology

CCDs exhibit specificity for the double bond that they cleave but many are promiscuous in their substrate choice. In plants, CCD1 and CCD7 cleave the 9,10 double bonds of their respective carotenoid substrates, whereas 9-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenases (NCEDs) cleave 11,12 double bonds. In addition, BoLCD from Bixa orellana (a eudicot) was reported to cleave at the lycopene 5,6 double bond [14], and CsZCD from Crocus sativus (a monocot) was found to cleave at the 7,8 double bond of zeaxanthin [

Monooxygenases or dioxygenases?

CCDs of plant and animal origin are non-heme enzymes, requiring only Fe2+ as a cofactor, and thus differ from the 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases that employ both Fe2+ ions and α-ketoglutarate. The classification of CCDs as monooxygenases or dioxygenases is an ongoing debate, which has implications not only for naming the enzymes but also for understanding their mechanistic possibilities. Monooxygenases rely on atmospheric O2 for one oxygen atom, whereas dioxygenases incorporate both

Conclusions

There has been tremendous progress over the past two years in characterizing plant CCD enzymes and their apocarotenoid products. The CCD1 enzymes synthesize a family of apocarotenoid volatiles that are important for the flavor and scent properties of agronomically important plants. CCDs also impact carotenoid turnover, a function that opens up the possibility of genetically manipulating CCD1 expression to alter carotenoid content in plant-derived foods. We are gaining an appreciation for

References and recommended reading

Papers of particular interest, published within the annual period of review, have been highlighted as:

  • • of special interest

  • •• of outstanding interest

Acknowledgements

We apologize to those whose work was not included in this review because of its brief nature and emphasis on recent work. We would like to thank Joe Noel, Paul O’Maille, Mack Flinspach and Brian Burger for their critical reading of the manuscript. We acknowledge the US National Science Foundation (NSF) for continuing support of the Arabidopsis CCD project in our laboratories and the US National Institutes of Health for which MEA is a postdoctoral fellow (F32 GM076997-01).

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