{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,9]],"date-time":"2026-10-09T11:58:41Z","timestamp":1791547121073,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"20","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,14]],"date-time":"2025-10-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1760400000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Beijing Natural Science Foundation","award":["7252244"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["7252244"]}]},{"name":"Guangxi Key R&D Program","award":["GuiKe AB25069119"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["GuiKe AB25069119"]}]},{"name":"CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences","award":["2021-I2M-1-071"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2021-I2M-1-071"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Crocins are high-value apocarotenoid pigments with broad applications in pharmaceuticals, foods, and personal-care products, and they exhibit diverse bioactivities, including antioxidant, antidepressant, and antidementia effects. In this study, we achieved the heterologous biosynthesis of crocins in Solanum lycopersicum L. by introducing the GjCCD4a, GjALDH2C3, GjUGT74F8 and GjUGT94E13 of Gardenia jasminoides J.Ellis to the binary expression vector via in-fusion technology and self-cleaving 2A peptides. Following Agrobacterium-mediated transformation, the engineered tomato plants predominantly produced main active ingredient crocin I, which accounted for 97\u201399% of the total crocins. The transgenic fruits displayed mixed red-and-golden colouration. These results highlight S. lycopersicum as a promising chassis for crocin I biosynthesis, helping to address supply constraints and enabling colour-trait breeding through synthetic biology.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms26209984","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,20]],"date-time":"2025-10-20T15:20:12Z","timestamp":1760973612000},"page":"9984","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Heterologous Biosynthesis of Crocin I in Solanum lycopersicum L."],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"26","author":[{"given":"Lei","family":"Xie","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory for Quality Ensurance and Sustainable Use of Dao-Di Herbs, Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jingjing","family":"Liao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory for Quality Ensurance and Sustainable Use of Dao-Di Herbs, Artemisinin Research Center, Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Beijing 100700, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8273-0060","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Chongnan","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory for Quality Ensurance and Sustainable Use of Dao-Di Herbs, Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xunli","family":"Jia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory for Quality Ensurance and Sustainable Use of Dao-Di Herbs, Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0259-2903","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yimei","family":"Zang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory for Quality Ensurance and Sustainable Use of Dao-Di Herbs, Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Changming","family":"Mo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Guangxi Crop Genetic Improvement and Biotechnology Laboratory, Guangxi Academy of Agricultural Science, Nanning 530007, China"},{"name":"Yuelushan Laboratory, Changsha 410128, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0394-2282","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Xiaojun","family":"Ma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory for Quality Ensurance and Sustainable Use of Dao-Di Herbs, Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7548-341X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zuliang","family":"Luo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory for Quality Ensurance and Sustainable Use of Dao-Di Herbs, Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100193, China"},{"name":"Yuelushan Laboratory, Changsha 410128, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1878","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apsb.2023.12.013","article-title":"Crocus genome reveals the evolutionary origin of crocin biosynthesis","volume":"14","author":"Xu","year":"2024","journal-title":"Acta Pharm. 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