Recently, the Cotton Research Institute, Biotechnology Research Institute, and Western Agricultural Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences have successfully reconstructed the astaxanthin synthesis pathway in cotton, creating a new germplasm rich in high-value astaxanthin. The related research findings have been published inPlant Biotechnology Journal.

Cotton is the world's most important fiber crop, but long-term research has primarily focused on the fiber itself. By-products such as cotton stalks and cottonseeds, which constitute the majority of the plant's biomass, have been underutilized, leading to resource waste. Tapping into the high-value potential of cotton by-products has become key to enhancing the overall value of cotton.

The research team introduced two key exogenous genes—β-carotene ketolase fromChlamydomonas reinhardtiiand β-carotene hydroxylase fromHaematococcus pluvialis—using an efficient expression system. By precisely guiding the high expression of enzymes in plastids, they successfully synthesized astaxanthin in the modern cotton variety "Zhongmian 49." The resulting transgenic cotton accumulated orange-red astaxanthin in its leaves, stems, bolls, and even cottonseed oil. The highest content, found in the leaves, reached 61.03 mg/kg (fresh weight), comparable to astaxanthin-rich corn grains. This breakthrough opens a new pathway for the supply of natural astaxanthin.

The research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Major Science and Technology Project.

Original link:https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pbi.70170