title: Improved practical usefulness of firefly luciferase by gene chimerization and random mutagenesis.
abstract: To improve the practical usefulness of the firefly luciferase, we performed gene chimerization between Photinus pyralis luciferase and a thermostable variant of Luciola cruciata luciferase. One chimeric luciferase showed low K(m) value for substrate ATP and similar stability to thermostable L. cruciata luciferase. We then introduced random mutations in the corresponding gene and screened for increased catalytic efficiency. Amino acid replacement of Thr219, Val239 and Val290 affected the kinetic parameters. Therefore, we combined these three mutations. One mutant, ABcT219I,V239I, showed high catalytic efficiency comparable to P. pyralis luciferase and high stability similar to thermostable L. cruciata luciferase. The pH-dependence of the bioluminescence emission spectra was also examined. In contrast to wild-type firefly luciferases characterized to date, the mutant did not show the pH-dependent red spectrum shift.
authors.affiliation: Research and Development Division, Kikkoman Corporation, 399 Noda, Chiba Prefecture 278-0037, Japan. khirokawa@mail.kikkoman.co.jp
authors.forename: Kozo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hirokawa
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kajiyama
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Murakami
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D000818:Animals; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*; D004795:Enzyme Stability; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008156:Luciferases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D015394:Molecular Structure; D016296:Mutagenesis; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D008156:Luciferases