Figure 1.

Biofortification of nutrients in rice endosperm. (A) Grains of the wild-type (WT), the golden rice (GR), canthaxanthin rice (CR), and astaxanthin rice (AR). (B) Simplified carotenoid/canthaxanthin/astaxanthin biosynthesis pathways reconstructed in rice endosperm. The enzymes (in blue) expressed from different combinations of the transgenes, together with those (in black) from the endogenous MEP pathway genes and OsLCYB, catalyze the biosynthesis of β-carotene, canthaxanthin, and astaxanthin as the main products in the GR, CR, and AR lines, respectively. The rate-limiting enzymes of the endogenous genes with no or low levels of expression are shown in gray. The figure is modified with permission from Elsevier.