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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Nov 1.
Published in final edited form as: Biochim Biophys Acta Mol Cell Biol Lipids. 2019 Dec 19;1865(11):158591. doi: 10.1016/j.bbalip.2019.158591

Figure 1. Symmetric and asymmetric cleavage of β-carotene.

Figure 1.

Central cleavage of β-carotene at the 15,15’ double bond is catalyzed by BCO1 to yield two molecules of retinal. Asymmetric cleavage at the 9’,10’ double bond is catalyzed by BCO2, and yields β-apo-10’-carotenal (depicted) and β-ionone (not shown). Retinaldehyde can be oxidized to retinoic acid or reduced to retinol, which can then be esterified to form retinyl esters.