Harnessing systems biology approach for characterization of carotenoid biosynthesis pathways in microalgae

Systems biology is an interdisciplinary field that aims to understand complex biological processes at the system level. The data, driven by high-throughput omics technologies, can be used to study the underpinning mechanisms of metabolite production under different conditions to harness this knowledge for the construction of regulatory networks, protein networks, metabolic models, and engineering of strains with enhanced target metabolite production in microalgae. In the current study, we comprehensively reviewed the recent progress in the application of these technologies for the characterization of carotenoid biosynthesis pathways in microalgae. Moreover, harnessing integrated approaches such as network analysis, meta-analysis, and machine learning models for deciphering the complexity of carotenoid biosynthesis pathways were comprehensively discussed. •The data, driven by high-throughput omics technologies, can be used to study the underpinning mechanisms of metabolite production under different conditions.•We comprehensively reviewed the recent progress in the application of these technologies for the characterization of carotenoid biosynthesis pathways in microalgae.•Harnessing integrated approaches such as network analysis, meta-analysis, and machine learning models for deciphering the complexity of carotenoid biosynthesis pathways were discussed.