title: Biosynthesis of the food and cosmetic plant pigment bixin (annatto).
abstract: Bixin, also known as annatto, is a seed-specific pigment widely used in foods and cosmetics since pre-Columbian times. We show that three genes from Bixa orellana, native to tropical America, govern bixin biosynthesis. These genes code for lycopene cleavage dioxygenase, bixin aldehyde dehydrogenase, and norbixin carboxyl methyltransferase, which catalyze the sequential conversion of lycopene into bixin. Introduction of these three genes in Escherichia coli engineered to produce lycopene induced bixin synthesis, thus expanding the supply of this economically important plant product.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes, CNRS, Université Louis Pasteur, 67084 Strasbourg, Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bouvier
authors.forename: Odette
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Dogbo
authors.forename: Bilal
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Camara
mesh_terms: D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D031212:Bixaceae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000378:metabolism; D002384:Catalysis; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015723:Gene Library; D017343:Genes, Plant; D000077276:Lycopene; D008780:Methyltransferases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010105:Oxygenases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012639:Seeds / Q000235:genetics; D014169:Transformation, Bacterial
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D002338:Carotenoids; C004588:bixin; C099823:norbixin; D010105:Oxygenases; D000444:Aldehyde Dehydrogenase; D008780:Methyltransferases; D000077276:Lycopene