title: A photoactivatable green-fluorescent protein from the phylum Ctenophora.
abstract: Genes for the family of green-fluorescent proteins (GFPs) have been found in more than 100 species of animals, with some species containing six or more copies producing a variety of colours. Thus far, however, these species have all been within three phyla: Cnidaria, Arthropoda and Chordata. We have discovered GFP-type fluorescent proteins in the phylum Ctenophora, the comb jellies. The ctenophore proteins share the xYG chromophore motif of all other characterized GFP-type proteins. These proteins exhibit the uncommon property of reversible photoactivation, in which fluorescent emission becomes brighter upon exposure to light, then gradually decays to a non-fluorescent state. In addition to providing potentially useful optical probes with novel properties, finding a fluorescent protein in one of the earliest diverging metazoans adds further support to the possibility that these genes are likely to occur throughout animals.
authors.affiliation: Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, , 7700 Sandholdt Road, Moss Landing, CA 95039, USA. haddock@mbari.org
authors.forename: Steven H D
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Haddock
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mastroianni
authors.forename: Lynne M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Christianson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D037302:Ctenophora / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D049449:Luminescence; D010802:Phylogeny
chemical_list: D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins