Fig. 3

Distribution of known pathways involved in carotenoid biosynthesis. a A total of 50 pathways has been described in the literature. Out of these only 56 % are enlisted in the KEGG while other 44 % has not been described in the KEGG database and remains scattered in the literature. b We have been able to add 16 pathways based on genome mining in addition to the 33 characterized in the literature. Out of all the pathways described in this database, 64 % of pathways have been experimentally characterized while the remaining 36 % of the total enlisted pathways have been predicted based on the presence of genes in the genome, presence of carotenoids in the specific organism. c The color coding used in this database is as following with selected relevant examples; Black color represents specific steps of the pathway/specific genes described in literature but was not associated with the suggested pathway. Green color indicates pathway/specific steps/specific genes predicted in the literature. Purple color represents experimentally characterized pathway, while the red color represents our prediction for entire pathway/specific steps/specific genes based on genome sequence analysis/literature