Marigold (Tagetes erecta) flowers are a good source of carotenoids and can be used as a model studies on pigmentation during flower development. They show different levels of pigmentation caused by lutein. Here we describe the expression of several genes in the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway: phytoene synthase (Psy), phytoene desaturase (Pds), lycopene beta-cyclase (Lcy-b) and lycopene epsilon-cyclase (Lcy-e). cDNA inserts from isolated clones were 1376-1916bp long. The predicted amino acid sequences showed from 66 to 100% homology with other reported sequences (NCBI gene bank). Northern blot analyses of three varieties of marigold showed that most gene transcripts were expressed during flower development. The ultrastructural changes that occurred during plastid differentiation in flower morphogenesis were analyzed, and pigment accumulation among varieties was evaluated. The pigment deposition in specific structures (lipidic vesicles) during flower development was demonstrated.

中文翻译：

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万寿菊发育过程中的类胡萝卜素基因表达和超微结构变化

万寿菊（万寿菊）花是类胡萝卜素的良好来源，可用作花发育过程中色素沉着的模型研究。它们显示出由叶黄素引起的不同程度的色素沉着。在这里，我们描述了类胡萝卜素生物合成途径中几个基因的表达：八氢番茄红素合酶 (Psy)、八氢番茄红素去饱和酶 (Pds)、番茄红素 β-环化酶 (Lcy-b) 和番茄红素ε-环化酶 (Lcy-e)。来自分离克隆的 cDNA 插入片段长 1376-1916bp。预测的氨基酸序列与其他报道的序列（NCBI 基因库）显示出 66% 到 100% 的同源性。三种万寿菊品种的 Northern 印迹分析表明，大多数基因转录物在花发育过程中表达。分析了花形态发生过程中质体分化过程中发生的超微结构变化，并对品种间色素积累进行了评价。证明了花发育过程中特定结构（脂质囊泡）中的色素沉积。