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New Zealand glowworm (Arachnocampa luminosa) bioluminescence is produced by a firefly-like luciferase but an entirely new luciferin
- Source :
- Scientific Reports, Scientific Reports, Vol 8, Iss 1, Pp 1-15 (2018)
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2018.
-
Abstract
- The New Zealand glowworm, Arachnocampa luminosa, is well-known for displays of blue-green bioluminescence, but details of its bioluminescent chemistry have been elusive. The glowworm is evolutionarily distant from other bioluminescent creatures studied in detail, including the firefly. We have isolated and characterised the molecular components of the glowworm luciferase-luciferin system using chromatography, mass spectrometry and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The purified luciferase enzyme is in the same protein family as firefly luciferase (31% sequence identity). However, the luciferin substrate of this enzyme is produced from xanthurenic acid and tyrosine, and is entirely different to that of the firefly and known luciferins of other glowing creatures. A candidate luciferin structure is proposed, which needs to be confirmed by chemical synthesis and bioluminescence assays. These findings show that luciferases can evolve independently from the same family of enzymes to produce light using structurally different luciferins.
- Subjects :
- 0301 basic medicine
Protein family
Science
Firefly Luciferin
Article
03 medical and health sciences
Luciferases, Firefly
Animals
Bioluminescence
Luciferase
Arachnocampa luminosa
Glowworm
Firefly protocol
Luciferases
Luminescent Agents
Multidisciplinary
biology
Chemistry
biology.organism_classification
Luciferin
030104 developmental biology
Biochemistry
Nematocera
Luminescent Measurements
Medicine
New Zealand
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 20452322
- Volume :
- 8
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Scientific Reports
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....a6f053b72d35de4ca182261ed1dbf311