In higher plants, there are many studies on carotenoid biosynthetic pathways and their relevant genes. On the other hand, few researches exist on carotenoid biosynthesis in early-land plants containing liverworts, mosses, and ferns. Thus, the evolutionary history of carotenoid biosynthesis genes in land plants has remained unclear. A liverwort Marchantia polymorpha is thought to be one of the first land plants, since this plant remains a primitive figure. Moreover, this liverwort is regarded as the model plant of bryophytes due to several reasons. In this chapter, we review carotenoid biosynthesis in liverworts and discuss the functional evolution and evolutionary history of carotenogenic genes in land plants.
Keywords: Carotenoid biosynthesis; Early-land plants; Functional evolution; Liverworts; Marchantia polymorpha.