BIOSYNTHESIS OF CAROTENOIDS IN SAFFRON

Saffron, the dry stigma of Crocus sativus, is made of carotenoids.
Very little is known about why carotenoids accumulate in the stigma tissue of C. sativus, when this accumulation starts and how these compounds are made in saffron.
To help to answer these questions is necessary to identified and characterised the enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of these compounds and study how the genes codifying for these enzymes are expressed and regulated during the stigma development.
Carotenoid biosynthetic enzymes are encoded by nuclear genes, and the corresponding precursor proteins are post-translationally imported into plastids.
Therefore, translational and post-translational steps are potential targets for regulation of carotenoid biosynthesis.
Partial clones for genes encoding PSD, PSY, BCH and NCDE carotenogenic enzymes have been isolated from stigma tissue and their expression analysed during stigma development and carotenoid accumulation.

I International Symposium on Saffron Biology and Biotechnology

A. Rubio, J.-A. Fernández, L.G. Gómez

apocarotenoids, cloning, Crocus sativus, development, enzymes, RT-PCR, stigma

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2004.650.10