EAGER: identifying the beta-carotene ketolase as a key to understanding mate choice

类胡萝卜素是一种色素分子，动物用它来产生亮红色和黄色的皮肤和羽毛的颜色，工业用它作为水产养殖和人类保健产品的重要补充。为了获得红色色素，大多数动物，包括鸟类，摄取黄色类胡萝卜素，如叶黄素，并通过添加一种被称为酮的化学基团来生化地改变它们。这种反应是由一种被称为酮醇酶的酶刺激的，这种酶尚未在任何动物中被发现。分离这种未知酮醇酶的最佳地点是鸡胚胎的视网膜，因为众所周知，红色色素在鸡的视网膜中首次产生，在下蛋后18天，当时还在鸡蛋中。通过比较第15天和第18天鸡胚胎视网膜中表达的基因，研究人员将能够分离出可能的酶。一旦确定，研究人员将把这种基因放入细菌中，以确保它能将黄色类胡萝卜素色素转化为红色类胡萝卜素色素。脊椎动物酮醇酶将是动物学上的一个重大发现，因为它是鱼类、蜥蜴和鸟类中大多数红色的酶。脊椎动物酮醇酶作为一种更有效的合成虾青素的方法，对农业和食品添加剂工业也有很大的价值，虾青素被用作红色食品添加剂和水产养殖补充剂。如果从酮醇酶的研究中开发出新的产品和合成工艺，就有可能创造就业机会和刺激经济。本科生将在参与本项目的同时学习到最前沿的分子技术。

Carotenoids are pigment molecules that animals use to produce bright red and yellow skin and feather coloration and that industry uses as important supplements in aquiculture and in human health products. To derive red pigments, most animals, including birds, ingest yellow carotenoids like lutein and biochemically alter them by adding a chemical group known as a ketone. This reaction is stimulated by an enzyme, known as a ketolase, that has yet to be identified in any animal. The best place to isolate this unidentified ketolase enzyme is in the retina of chicken embryos because it is known that red pigments are first produced in chicken in the retina, 18 days after laying, while still in the egg. By comparing the genes expressed in the retina of chicken embryos on day 15 versus day 18, the researchers will be able to isolate the possible enzyme. Once it has been identified the researchers will place the gene in bacteria to make sure that it functions to convert yellow carotenoid pigments to red carotenoid pigments. The vertebrate ketolase will be a major discovery in zoology because it is the enzyme responsible for most red coloration in fish, lizards, and birds. A vertebrate ketolase also has substantial value to agriculture and the food additive industry as a more efficient means to synthesize astaxanthin, which is used as a red food additive and aquaculture supplement. If new products and synthetic processes are developed from the ketolase research, there is the potential for job creation and economic stimulation. Undergraduate students will learn cutting edge molecular techniques while participating in this project.