New Zealand glowworm (Arachnocampa luminosa) bioluminescence is produced by a firefly-like luciferase but an entirely new luciferin

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 h...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales:	Oliver C. Watkins, Miriam L. Sharpe, Nigel B. Perry, Kurt L. Krause
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2018
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/73316233e598476b9887141e89c27fef
Etiquetas:	Agregar Etiqueta Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!

id	oai:doaj.org-article:73316233e598476b9887141e89c27fef
record_format	dspace
spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:73316233e598476b9887141e89c27fef2021-12-02T15:08:28ZNew Zealand glowworm (Arachnocampa luminosa) bioluminescence is produced by a firefly-like luciferase but an entirely new luciferin10.1038/s41598-018-21298-w2045-2322https://doaj.org/article/73316233e598476b9887141e89c27fef2018-02-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-21298-whttps://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract 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.Oliver C. WatkinsMiriam L. SharpeNigel B. PerryKurt L. KrauseNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 8, Iss 1, Pp 1-15 (2018)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Oliver C. Watkins Miriam L. Sharpe Nigel B. Perry Kurt L. Krause New Zealand glowworm (Arachnocampa luminosa) bioluminescence is produced by a firefly-like luciferase but an entirely new luciferin
description	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.
format	article
author	Oliver C. Watkins Miriam L. Sharpe Nigel B. Perry Kurt L. Krause
author_facet	Oliver C. Watkins Miriam L. Sharpe Nigel B. Perry Kurt L. Krause
author_sort	Oliver C. Watkins
title	New Zealand glowworm (Arachnocampa luminosa) bioluminescence is produced by a firefly-like luciferase but an entirely new luciferin
title_short	New Zealand glowworm (Arachnocampa luminosa) bioluminescence is produced by a firefly-like luciferase but an entirely new luciferin
title_full	New Zealand glowworm (Arachnocampa luminosa) bioluminescence is produced by a firefly-like luciferase but an entirely new luciferin
title_fullStr	New Zealand glowworm (Arachnocampa luminosa) bioluminescence is produced by a firefly-like luciferase but an entirely new luciferin
title_full_unstemmed	New Zealand glowworm (Arachnocampa luminosa) bioluminescence is produced by a firefly-like luciferase but an entirely new luciferin
title_sort	new zealand glowworm (arachnocampa luminosa) bioluminescence is produced by a firefly-like luciferase but an entirely new luciferin
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2018
url	https://doaj.org/article/73316233e598476b9887141e89c27fef
work_keys_str_mv	AT olivercwatkins newzealandglowwormarachnocampaluminosabioluminescenceisproducedbyafireflylikeluciferasebutanentirelynewluciferin AT miriamlsharpe newzealandglowwormarachnocampaluminosabioluminescenceisproducedbyafireflylikeluciferasebutanentirelynewluciferin AT nigelbperry newzealandglowwormarachnocampaluminosabioluminescenceisproducedbyafireflylikeluciferasebutanentirelynewluciferin AT kurtlkrause newzealandglowwormarachnocampaluminosabioluminescenceisproducedbyafireflylikeluciferasebutanentirelynewluciferin
_version_	1718388127625641984

New Zealand glowworm (Arachnocampa luminosa) bioluminescence is produced by a firefly-like luciferase but an entirely new luciferin

Ejemplares similares