Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-21298-w
Title: New Zealand glowworm (Arachnocampa luminosa) bioluminescence is produced by a firefly-like luciferase but an entirely new luciferin
Authors: Watkins, O.C 
Sharpe, M.L
Perry, N.B
Krause, K.L
Keywords: firefly luciferase
luciferin
luminescent agent
animal
chemistry
enzymology
luminescence
Nematocera
New Zealand
Animals
Firefly Luciferin
Luciferases, Firefly
Luminescent Agents
Luminescent Measurements
Nematocera
New Zealand
Issue Date: 2018
Citation: Watkins, O.C, Sharpe, M.L, Perry, N.B, Krause, K.L (2018). New Zealand glowworm (Arachnocampa luminosa) bioluminescence is produced by a firefly-like luciferase but an entirely new luciferin. Scientific Reports 8 (1) : 3278. ScholarBank@NUS Repository. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-21298-w
Rights: Attribution 4.0 International
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. © 2018 The Author(s).
Source Title: Scientific Reports
URI: https://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/handle/10635/177824
ISSN: 20452322
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-21298-w
Rights: Attribution 4.0 International
Appears in Collections:Staff Publications
Elements

Show full item record
Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormatAccess SettingsVersion 
10_1038_s41598-018-21298-w.pdf1.96 MBAdobe PDF

OPEN

NoneView/Download

Google ScholarTM

Check

Altmetric


This item is licensed under a Creative Commons License Creative Commons