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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 #387933
Research Project: Genetics, Epigenetics, Genomics, and Biotechnology for Fruit and Vegetable Quality

Location: Plant, Soil and Nutrition Research

Title: Carotenoid pigment accumulation in horticultural plants

Author
item HERMANNS, ANNA - Cornell University
item ZHOU, XUESONG - Cornell University
item XU, QIANG - Huazhong Agricultural University
item TADMOR, YAAKOV - Agricultural Research Organization, Volcani Center
item Li, Li

Submitted to: Horticultural Plant Journal
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/3/2020
Publication Date: 10/20/2020
Citation: Hermanns, A., Zhou, X., Xu, Q., Tadmor, Y., Li, L. 2020. Carotenoid pigment accumulation in horticultural plants. Horticultural Plant Journal. 6(6):343-360. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpj.2020.10.002.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hpj.2020.10.002

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Carotenoids are a group of widely distributed natural pigments. They give many horticultural plants the bright red, orange, and yellow colors, as well as the aroma and flavor. Carotenoids enhance the health value and represent an essential quality trait of horticultural products. Significant efforts have been made to correlate specific carotenoid production with pathway gene expression. Some transcription factors that directly regulate transcription of the pathway genes have been identified. Horticultural crops have evolved with complicated and multifaceted regulatory mechanisms to generate the enormous diversity in carotenoid content and composition. However, the diverse and complex control of carotenoid accumulation is still not well understood. In this review, we depict carotenoid accumulation pathways and highlight the recent progress in the regulatory control of carotenoid accumulation in horticultural plants. Because of the critical roles of chromoplasts for carotenoid hyperproduction, we evaluate chromoplast ultrastructures and carotenoid sequestrations. A perspective on carotenoid research in horticultural crops is provided.