These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Canthaxanthin biosynthesis by the conversion of methylene to keto groups in a hydrocarbon beta-carotene by a single gene.
    Author: Misawa N, Kajiwara S, Kondo K, Yokoyama A, Satomi Y, Saito T, Miki W, Ohtani T.
    Journal: Biochem Biophys Res Commun; 1995 Apr 26; 209(3):867-76. PubMed ID: 7733978.
    Abstract:
    Compounds that include (a) keto group(s) in a molecule are ubiquitous natural components. A novel gene involved in ketocompound biosynthesis, designated crtW, was isolated from the marine bacteria Agrobacterium aurantiacum and Alcaligenes PC-1 that produce ketocarotenoids such as astaxanthin. When this gene was introduced into Escherichia coli that accumulated beta-carotene due to the Erwinia carotenogenic genes, the E. coli transformants synthesized canthaxanthin, one of ketocarotenoids, which was identified after purification by its visible, FD-MS and 1H-NMR spectral analysis. It has been demonstrated for the first time that one gene encodes an enzyme "ketolase" that catalyzes the conversion of methylene groups of a hydrocarbon beta-carotene to keto groups for synthesizing canthaxanthin via echinenone.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]