Carotenoids are an important source of metabolites with regulatory function, which include the plant hormones abscisic acid (ABA) and strigolactones (SLs), and several recently identified growth regulators and signaling molecules. These carotenoid-derivatives originate from oxidative breakdown of double bonds in the carotenoid polyene, a common metabolic process that gives rise to diverse carbonyl cleavage-products known as apocarotenoids. Apocarotenoids exert biologically important functions in all taxa. In plants, they are a major regulator of plant growth, development and response to biotic and abiotic environmental stimuli, and mediate plant’s communication with surrounding organisms. In this article, we provide a general overview on the biology of plant apocarotenoids, focusing on ABA, SLs, and recently identified apocarotenoid growth regulators. Following an introduction on carotenoids, we describe plant apocarotenoid biosynthesis, signal transduction, and evolution and summarize their biological functions. Moreover, we discuss the evolution of these intriguing metabolites, which has not been adequately addressed in the literature.

类胡萝卜素是具有调节功能的代谢物的重要来源，其中包括植物激素脱落酸 (ABA) 和独脚金内酯 (SLs)，以及一些最近发现的生长调节剂和信号分子。这些类胡萝卜素衍生物源自类胡萝卜素多烯中双键的氧化分解，这是一种常见的代谢过程，可产生多种羰基裂解产物，称为类胡萝卜素。类胡萝卜素在所有分类群中发挥重要的生物学功能。在植物中，它们是植物生长、发育和对生物和非生物环境刺激的反应的主要调节剂，并介导植物与周围生物的交流。在本文中，我们概述了植物类胡萝卜素的生物学，重点介绍了 ABA、SL、和最近发现的类胡萝卜素生长调节剂。在介绍类胡萝卜素之后，我们描述了植物类胡萝卜素的生物合成、信号转导和进化，并总结了它们的生物学功能。此外，我们讨论了这些有趣的代谢物的进化，这在文献中没有得到充分的解决。