대사공학기술을 이용한 기능성 carotenoids 고 생산 감자의 개발 현황

Development of transgenic potato with high content of functional carotenoids by using metabolic engineering

Recently, a number of successful research reports are accumulated to increase the carotenoid level in potato tuber such as β-carotene, precursor of vitamin A and keto-carotenoid like astaxanthin in which is not synthesized in most plants tissue since it does not contain a specific enzyme to add keto-ring in carotenoid molecule. In particular, keto-carotenoids are more interested due to their strong antioxidant activity. Currently, the content of β-carotene was increased up to 3,600-fold (47 ㎍/g dry weight) when compared to the control potato tuber, parental cultivar for genetic modification. In addition, astaxanthin, one of the major keto-carotenoid was accumulated up to 14 ㎍/g dry weight in potato tuber with red color by over expressing the gene encoding β-carotene ketolase isolated from marine microorganisms. In this article, we summarized carotenogenesis-related genes that have been used for metabolic engineering of carotenoid biosynthetic pathway in potato. Furthermore, strategies for the accumulation of carotenoids and ketocarotenoids in specific potato tuber, bottle necks, and future works are discussed.