The oxygenated carotenoid zeaxanthin provides numerous benefits to human health due to its antioxidant properties. Especially it is linked to protecting, together with the xanthophyll lutein, the retina in the human eye by filtering harmful blue light thus delaying the progression of age‐related macular degeneration (AMD), the most prevalent cause of blindness in developed countries. Despite its high nutritional value, zeaxanthin is less available than other substantial carotenoids in our diet. To solve this shortage, we chose to develop a new food source that would contain a high concentration of natural zeaxanthin. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) was selected as the target plant since it is the second largest vegetable crop grown worldwide and its fruit characteristically synthesizes and accumulates a high concentration of carotenoids. We employed two genetic approaches in order to enhance zeaxanthin biosynthesis in tomato fruit: a transgenic metabolic engineering and classical genetic breeding. A nontransgenic tomato line, named ‘Xantomato’, was generated whose fruit accumulated zeaxanthin at a concentration of 39 μg/g fresh weight (or 577 μg/g dry weight), which comprised ca. 50% of total fruit carotenoids compared to zero in the wild type. This is the highest concentration of zeaxanthin reached in a primary crop. Xantomato can potentially increase zeaxanthin availability in the human diet and serve as raw material for industrial applications.

中文翻译：

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通过类胡萝卜素生物合成的遗传操作开发富含玉米黄质的番茄果实。

含氧类胡萝卜素玉米黄质由于其抗氧化特性，对人体健康具有许多好处。特别是它与叶黄素叶黄素一起通过过滤有害的蓝光来保护人眼的视网膜，从而延缓了与年龄有关的黄斑变性（AMD）的发展，而黄斑变性是发达国家失明的最普遍原因。尽管玉米黄质具有很高的营养价值，但在我们的饮食中却比其他大量类胡萝卜素少得到。为了解决这一短缺问题，我们选择开发一种新的食物来源，其中将包含高浓度的天然玉米黄质。番茄（番茄L.）被选为目标植物，因为它是全球第二大蔬菜作物，其果实具有特征性的合成和积累高浓度的类胡萝卜素的特性。为了增强番茄果实中的玉米黄质生物合成，我们采用了两种遗传方法：转基因代谢工程和经典遗传育种。产生了一种非转基因番茄品系，名为“ Xantomato”，其果实积聚了玉米黄质，其鲜重浓度为39μg/ g（或干重577μg/ g）。水果类胡萝卜素总量的50％，而野生型为零。这是初生作物中玉米黄质的最高浓度。黄嘌呤酮可以潜在地增加人类饮食中玉米黄质的利用率，并用作工业应用的原料。