Table 1.

Invertebrate and vertebrate tissue carotenoid-binding proteins and their biochemical properties.

Source	Major Carotenoid	Mol wt	Bathochromic Shift	Protein	Key reference
Silkworm silk gland	Lutein	35 kDa	22 nm	LBP/BmStart1	Tabunoki et al. 2002 [28].
Lobster carapace	Astaxanthin	66 kDa	160 nm	Crustacyanin	Zagalsky et al. 1991 [38].
Atlantic salmon	Astaxanthin	109; 105; 95 kDa	NA	Alpha-actinin	Matthews et al. 2006 [69].
Human macula	Zeaxanthin	23 kDa	12–20 nm	GSTP1	Bhosale et al 2004 [21].
Ferret liver	Beta-carotene	67 kDa	32 nm	Not yet known	Rao et al. 1997 [78].
Quail liver	Lutein	~55 kDa	80 nm	Not yet known	This report

NA: Information not avaliable