Patent ID: 7063955

Claim:
A method for the production of γ carotene or 4-keto-γ-carotene comprising: a) providing a host cell which produces lycopene or neurosporene wherein said host cell expresses a lycopene β-cyclase that converts lycopene or neurosporene into γ-carotene or 4-keto-γ-carotene and is encoded by a nucleic acid molecule selected from the group consisting of: (i) an isolated nucleic acid molecule encoding the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2; and; (ii) an isolated nucleic acid molecule that hybridizes with (i) under the following hybridization conditions: 0.1×SSC, 0.1% SDS, 65° C. and washed with 2×SSC, 0.1% SDS followed by 0.1×SSC, 0.1% SDS; b) growing the host cell of (a) under conditions whereby γ-carotene or 4-keto-γ-carotene are produced; and c) Optionally recovering the γ-carotene or 4-keto-γ-carotene.