Coenzyme Q (CoQ) is vital for energy metabolism in living organisms. In humans, CoQ₁₀ deficiency causes diseases and must be replenished via diet; however, CoQ content in plant foods is primarily low. Here, we report the breeding of high CoQ₁₀ tomato lines by expressing four enzymes with a fruit-specific promoter, which modifies the chloroplast chorismate pathway, enhances cytosolic isoprenoid biosynthesis, and up-regulates the first two reactions in mitochondrion that construct the CoQ₁₀ polyisoprenoid tail. We show that, while the level of the aromatic precursor could be markedly elevated, head group prenylation is the key to increasing the final CoQ₁₀ yield. In the HUCD lines expressing all four transgenes, the highest CoQ₁₀ content (0.15 mg/g dry weight) shows a seven-fold increase from the wild-type level and reaches an extraordinarily rich CoQ₁₀ food grade. Overviewing the changes in other terpenoids by transcriptome and metabolic analyses reveals variable contents of carotenoids and α-tocopherol in the HUCD lines. In addition to the enigmatic relations among different terpenoid pathways, high CoQ₁₀ plants maintaining substantial levels of either vitamin can be selected. Our investigation paves the way for the development of CoQ₁₀-enriched crops as dietary supplements.

辅酶 Q (CoQ) 对生物体的能量代谢至关重要。在人类中，CoQ ₁₀缺乏会导致疾病，必须通过饮食补充；然而，植物性食品中的辅酶Q含量主要较低。在这里，我们报告了通过表达四种带有水果特异性启动子的酶来培育高 CoQ ₁₀番茄品系，该启动子修饰叶绿体分支酸途径，增强细胞质类异戊二烯生物合成，并上调构建 CoQ _{10 的}线粒体中的前两个反应聚异戊二烯尾。我们表明，虽然芳香族前体的水平可以显着提高，但头基异戊二烯化是提高最终 CoQ ₁₀产量的关键。在表达所有四种转基因的 HUCD 系中，最高的 CoQ_{10 的}含量（0.15 毫克/克干重）比野生型水平增加了七倍，达到了非常丰富的 CoQ ₁₀食品级。通过转录组和代谢分析概述其他萜类化合物的变化，揭示了 HUCD 系中类胡萝卜素和 α-生育酚的可变含量。除了不同萜类化合物途径之间的神秘关系外，还可以选择高 CoQ ₁₀植物，并保持大量维生素。我们的研究为开发富含 CoQ _{10 的}作物作为膳食补充剂铺平了道路。