title: Effects of hydrogen peroxide on light emission by various strains of marine luminescent bacteria.
abstract: Light-emitting bacteria are the most abundant and widespread luminescent organisms. Most species of such bacteria live in marine environments. However, until recently, biological role of bacterial luminescence remained unknown. Recent studies indicated that light produced in bacterial cells may stimulate DNA repair. Therefore, it is not surprising that agents that cause DNA damage induce expression of lux genes. Moreover, it was proposed previously that bacterial luciferases may be involved in detoxification of reactive oxygen species. Recently, this hypothesis was confirmed experimentally. Here we investigated effects of hydrogen peroxide on light emission by various strains of luminescent bacteria. We found that luminescence of strains with luciferase of fast kinetics of reaction decreased at considerably lower concentrations of H2O2 than that of strains with luciferase of the slow kinetics. The action (either direct or indirect) of luciferases as anti-oxidants seemed to be independent of activity of catalase, which was found to be different in various strains. Therefore, it seems that luciferases of the slow kinetics are more efficient in detoxification of reactive oxygen species than those of the fast kinetics.
authors.affiliation: Research Department, Crimen State Medical University, Boulevard Lenina 5/7, Simferopol 95006, Crimea, Ukraine. labor@post.csmu.strace.net
authors.forename: Andrey M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Katsev
authors.forename: Grzegorz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wegrzyn
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Szpilewska
mesh_terms: D002374:Catalase / Q000378:metabolism; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008156:Luciferases / Q000378:metabolism*; D049449:Luminescence; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D016877:Oxidants / Q000494:pharmacology; D010776:Photobacterium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species / Q000378:metabolism; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology; D014733:Vibrio / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D014871:Water Microbiology
chemical_list: D016877:Oxidants; D017382:Reactive Oxygen Species; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; D002374:Catalase; D008156:Luciferases