Book excerpt: Carotenoids: Biological Functions of Carotenoids and Apocarotenoids in Natural and Artificial Systems, Volume 674 in the Methods in Enzymology series, highlights new advances in the field, with this new volume presenting interesting chapters on topics such as Ultrafast laser spectroscopic studies on carotenoids in solution and on those bound to photosynthetic pigment-protein complexes, Assessing photoprotective functions of carotenoids in photosynthetic systems of plants and green algae, Fluorescence of carotenoids: probing binding site interactions and conformational motion in carotenoproteins, Resonance Raman: A powerful tool to interrogate carotenoids in biological matrices, and much more. Other chapters in the book cover Engineering the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway to study the function of carotenoids in light-harvesting complexes, Carotenoids as proxies for variations in photosynthesis and phenology in response to environmental and climatic change, Apocarotenoid pigment biosynthesis in non-model plants, Apocarotenoid transport in plants, Screening for apocarotenoid plant growth regulators in Arabidopsis, Effects of herbivory on carotenoid biosynthesis and breakdown, Biosynthesis and action of apocarotenoid plant hormones, and much more. - Provides the authority and expertise of leading contributors from an international board of authors - Presents the latest release in Methods in Enzymology series - Updated release includes the latest information on Carotenoids: Biological functions of carotenoids and apocarotenoids in natural and artificial systems