Carotenoid evolution

SANDMANN G (2002) Molecular evolution of carotenoid biosynthesis from bacteria to plants . Physiol Plantarum, 116, 431-40. 

Some prospective and case-control studies also investigated the relationship of carotenoids and the evolution of CCA-IMT. Although the EVA study showed no association between total carotenoids and IMT, others like the ARIC study, the Los Angeles Atherosclerosis Study, " and the Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study demonstrated the protective role of isolated carotenoids such as lycopene, lutein, zeaxanthin, and P-cryptoxanthin on IMT. Thus, findings from prospective and case-control studies have suggested that some carotenoids such as lycopene and P-carotene may present protective effects against CVD and particularly myocardial infarcts and intima media thickness, a marker of atherosclerosis. 

The stability of phytoene desaturase and lycopene cyclase transcripts also influenced accumulation of carotenoids. Efforts in directed evolution of carotenogenic enzymes have also continued. Alternate approaches using systematic and combinatorial gene knockout targets have allowed for enhancement of carotenoid production in the absence of a priori assumptions of regulatory mechanisms. 

Gallagher, C.E. et al.. Gene duplication in the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway preceded evolution of the grasses (Poaceae). Plant Physiol. 135, 1776, 2004. 

Mijts, B.N., Lee, PC., and Schmidt-Dannert, C., Identification of a carotenoid oxygenase synthesizing acyclic xanthophylls combinatorial biosynthesis and directed evolution, Chem. Biol., 12, 453, 2005. 

Badyaev, A. V. and Hill, G. E. 2000. Evolution of sexual dichromatism Contribution of carotenoid- versus melanin-based coloration. Biol. J. Linn. Soc. 69 153-172. 

Pryke, S. R., Andersson, S., and Lawes, M. J. 2001a. Sexual selection of multiple handicaps in the red-collared widowbird Female choice of tail length but not carotenoid display. Evolution 55 1452-1463. 

Mathews-Roth M. M. (1986). Carotenoids quench evolution of excited species in epidermis exposed to UV-B (290-320nm) light. Photochem Photobiol 43 91-93. 

Fig. 2 Evolution of the carotenoid absorption band of R. rubram cells. Continuous line, cells from midexponential cultures broken line, carbon starved cells...

Hopanoids (the most common organic natural product on earth) must have been involved in the evolution of the biomembrane itself. All known membranes contain terpene derivatives, such as cholesterol or carotenoids, which belong to, or can be derived from, hopanoids. However, we still do not know their biological function. Their most commonly proposed mechanism is to regulate membrane fluidity. Another obvious effect is their influence on the lipid bilayer (or monolayer in the case of archaebacteria) curvature. The different types of hopanoids occurring will certainly favour the relative stability of either the planar or of the intrinsically curved membrane conformation. The ether lipids of archaebacteria, which are hopanoid derivatives, forming curved bilayers as discussed above, therefore provide evidence for cubosomes as the first organised form of life. 

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