Neoxanthin Explained

Neoxanthin is a carotenoid and xanthophyll. In plants, it is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of the plant hormone abscisic acid. It is often present in two forms: all-trans and 9-cis isomers. It is produced from violaxanthin, but a suspected neoxanthin synthase^[1] is still to be confirmed. Two different genes were confirmed to be implied in violaxanthin conversion to neoxanthin in Arabidopsis and tomato.^{[2] [3]} It has a specific role in protection against photooxidative stress.^[4] It is a major xanthophyll found in green leafy vegetables such as spinach.

Notes and References

1. 10.1046/j.1432-1327.2000.01722.x . Identification of neoxanthin synthase as a carotenoid cyclase paralog . 2000 . Bouvier . Florence . D'harlingue . Alain . Backhaus . Ralph A. . Kumagai . Monto H. . Camara . Bilal . European Journal of Biochemistry . 267 . 21 . 6346–6352 . 11029576. free .
2. 10.1111/j.1365-313X.2007.03094.x . The Arabidopsis ABA-deficient mutant aba4 demonstrates that the major route for stress-induced ABA accumulation is via neoxanthin isomers . 2007 . North . Helen M. . de Almeida . Aurélie . Boutin . Jean-Pierre . Frey . Anne . To . Alexandra . Botran . Lucy . Sotta . Bruno . Marion-Poll . Annie . Plant Journal . 50 . 5 . 810–824 . 17470058. free .
3. 10.1111/tpj.12451 . The tomato mutation nxd1 reveals a gene necessary for neoxanthin biosynthesis and demonstrates that violaxanthin is a sufficient precursor for abscisic acid biosynthesis . 2014 . Neuman . Hadar . Galpaz . Navot . Cunningham Jr . Francis X. . Zamir . Dani . Hirschberg . Joseph . Plant Journal . 78 . 1 . 80–93 . 24506237.
4. 10.1105/tpc.106.049114 . The Arabidopsis aba4-1 mutant reveals a specific function for neoxanthin in protection against photooxidative stress . 2007 . Dall'osto . Luca . Cazzaniga . Stefano . North . Helen . Marion-Poll . Annie . Bassi . Roberto . Plant Cell. 19 . 3 . 1048–1064 . 17351115 . 1867355.