title: Molecular cloning and expression in Escherichia coli of a cDNA clone encoding luciferase of a firefly, Luciola lateralis.
abstract: We have cloned a cDNA encoding Luciola lateralis (a common firefly in Japan) luciferase from a cDNA library of lantern poly(A)+ RNA, using a cDNA of L. cruciata (another common firefly in Japan) luciferase as a probe. The primary structure of L. lateralis luciferase deduced from the nucleotide sequence was shown to consist of 548 amino acids with a molecular weight of 60,132. Sequence comparison indicates that L. lateralis luciferase has significant sequence identity (94%) to L. cruciata luciferase, and that it has less sequence similarity (67%) to Photinus pyralis (a North American firefly) luciferase. The isolated cDNA clone, when introduced into Escherichia coli, directed the synthesis of enzymatically active luciferase under the control of the lacZ promoter.
authors.affiliation: Research and Development Division, Kikkoman Corporation, Noda, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tatsumi
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kajiyama
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nakano
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003062:Codon; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000235:genetics*; D004247:DNA / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics*; D015870:Gene Expression; D008156:Luciferases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D003062:Codon; D004247:DNA; D008156:Luciferases