Bioinformatics Analysis of the Lycopene β-Cyclase Gene in Jujube (Ziziphus jujube Mill)

Lycopene β-cyclase enzyme is a key cyclase in carotenoid synthesis pathway, which catalyzes the formation of catalytic ring to synthesize α-carotene and β-carotene. In this study, the physicochemical properties, secondary structure, subcellular localization and homology of ZjLCYb were analyzed. Here, the genomic mRNA sequences of LCYb gene of jujube were downloaded from NCBI and then used to bioinformatic analysis. The ZjLCYb gene sequence was 1518 bp in length and encoded 505 amino acids. The molecular mass of ZiLCYb protein is 56.81 kD, and the isoelectric point (pI) is 7.65. Subcellular localization of ZjLCYb protein was most likely located in the chloroplast.The ZjLCYb protein has a Rossmann-fold NAD(P)H/NAD(P)(+) binding (NADB) domain and a PLN02463 specific hit. Homologous analysis showed that ZjLCYb and LCYb proteins from 17 other species contained more than 84.42% similarity, with the highest similarity being Vitis vinifera and Prunus persica. This study laid a foundation for bioinformatics analysis of carotenoid biosynthesis genes of jujube.