carotenoid-biology
Carotenoid biology is the study of carotenoids—a class of yellow, orange, and red pigments synthesized by plants, algae, and some microorganisms—encompassing their biosynthesis, regulation, and physiological roles. In plant science, carotenoids are essential for photosynthesis, where they serve as accessory light-harvesting pigments and protect chlorophyll from photo-oxidative damage. They also function as precursors to important signaling molecules such as abscisic acid and strigolactones, making them central to understanding plant development, stress responses, and crop nutritional quality.
open_in_new WikipediaPubMed · 2026-05-06
Scientists successfully used CRISPR gene editing in banana plants with near-perfect efficiency — 91% of edited plants showed a complete, uniform genetic change rather than the patchwork results that typically plague editing in crops with multiple gene copies. This solves a long-standing obstacle in improving bananas and other complex polyploid crops.
91% of 102 edited banana plants showed full albino phenotype, with 9% pale green — zero chimeric (mixed/partial) plants, indicating near-complete editing efficiency.
Tri-allelic editing was confirmed across all plants: all three gene copies were disrupted, with two carrying identical mutations and one a distinct mutation.
Tiny deletions of just 2–6 amino acids within the conserved binding motif were enough to fully abolish the gene's function, confirming the motif's essential role.
