Pierre Brat, 
Jean Christophe Valmalette, 
Christian Mertz, 
George de Sousa, 
Aviv Dombrovsky, 
Maria Capovilla 
Alain Robichon

Carotenoids are compounds synthesized in plants, bacteria and fungi, closely associated to the chlorophyll to perform photosynthesis. A spectacular evolutionary achievement allowed the aphid to produce carotenoids obviously by lateral transfer of genes from fungi. We have recently documented that these molecules are involved in photo conditioning of metabolism such ATP synthesis in this insect model. The carotenoid synthesis in aphid was directly determined in living insects without extraction procedure by Raman imaging technique and the analysis was compared between insects raised in distinct environments. In contrast with the Raman spectrum that provides information on molecular motifs recognition (conjugated double bonds) but does not discriminate between isomers and ester forms, the mass spectrometry technology allowed us to analyze finely the variations in carotenoid composition. In parallel to these spectral analysis and chemistry determination, series of dosage of ATP were performed in order to correlate carotenoid synthesis and metabolism in aphid.