title: An ancestral luciferase in the Malpighi tubules of a non-bioluminescent beetle!
abstract: The evolutionary origin of beetle bioluminescence is enigmatic. Previously, weak luciferase activity was found in the non-bioluminescent larvae of Tenebrio molitor (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), but the detailed tissular origin and identity of the luciferase-like enzyme remained unknown. Using a closely related giant mealworm, Zophobas morio, here we show that the luciferase-like enzyme is located in the Malpighi tubules. cDNA cloning of this luciferase like enzyme, showed that it is a short AMP-ligase with weak luciferase activity which diverged long ago from beetle luciferases. The results indicate that the potential for bioluminescence in AMP-ligases is very ancient and provide a first reasonable protoluciferase model to investigate the origin and evolution of beetle luciferases.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Bioluminescência e Biotecnologia, UNISO, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Campus de Sorocaba, Sorocaba, SP, Brazil. viviani@ufscar.br
authors.forename: V R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Viviani
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Prado
authors.forename: F C G
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Arnoldi
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Abdalla
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000201:enzymology*; D018076:DNA, Complementary; D008156:Luciferases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D049449:Luminescence; D008317:Malpighian Tubules / Q000201:enzymology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D008156:Luciferases