title: Molecular cloning, sequence analysis, and expression of a cDNA encoding the luciferase from the glow-worm, Lampyris turkestanicus.
abstract: The first cDNA from lampyridae encoding a glow-worm luciferase from lantern mRNA of Lampyris turkestanicus has been cloned, sequenced, the amino acid sequence predicted, and the sequence reported to GenBank. The cDNA was 1644 base pairs in length and coding a 547-residue protein. The deduced amino acid sequence of the luciferase gene of L. turkestanicus showed 98.7% and 95.8% identity to Lampyris noctiluca and Pyrocoelia rufa, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis further confirmed that the deduced amino acid sequences of L. turkestanicus luciferase gene belong to the same subfamily, Lampyrinae. The cDNA encoding the luciferase of L. turkestanicus was expressed as a 62kDa band in recombinant Escherichia coli and showed green luminescence in the presence of luciferin. Amongst amino acid differences of L. turkestanicus and L. noctiluca (its clade) there are two important substitutions. Signature amino-acid sequences and motifs found in the deduced sequence are CK2-phospho site, ASN-glycosylation, myristoylation site, PKC-phospho site, microbodies C-terminal targeting signal, and AMP-binding domain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Bagher Said
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Alipour
authors.forename: Saman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hosseinkhani
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nikkhah
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Naderi-Manesh
authors.forename: Mohammad Javad
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Chaichi
authors.forename: Shahrokh Kazempour
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Osaloo
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D048888:Fireflies / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D007492:Iran; D008156:Luciferases / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D008156:Luciferases