The invention discloses a tobacco epsilon-lycopene cyclase gene. The base sequence of the tobacco epsilon-lycopene cyclase gene is represented by SEQIDNO:1. An Ntepsilon-LCY gene sequence is obtained through in vivo cloning of cultivated tobacco Hongda in a homologous cloning mode, and expression mode and subcellular localization analysis is carried out. A tobacco rattle virus (TRV) induction gene is used to silence Nicotiana benthamiana, and a result shows that the partial silence of the epsilon-LCY can improve the content of carotenoid in tobacco leaf and enhance the photoinhibition resistance of tobacco plants. A result of the above researches shows that theoretic basis and a gene resource are provided for the use of the gene engineering technology to cultivate excellent species.