title: Bioluminescence of a firefly pupa: involvement of a luciferase isotype in the dim glow of pupae and eggs in the Japanese firefly, Luciola lateralis.
abstract: We isolated cDNA for a luciferase isotype, LlLuc2, from the ovary of the Japanese firefly, Luciola lateralis. The gene product LlLuc2 showed 59% amino acid identity with LlLuc1, which had been isolated from the adult L. lateralis lantern. Molecular phylogenetic analysis indicated that LlLuc2 is an orthologue of LcLuc2 from Luciola cruciata. The spectral maxima of the luminescence by recombinant LlLuc1 and LlLuc2 were 550 and 539 nm, respectively. Quantitative PCR analysis revealed that LlLuc1 was expressed predominantly in larvae and adults, and LlLuc2 was expressed in eggs and pupae, which glow dimly, and we found that the in vivo luminescence spectra of the egg and pupa in L. lateralis were in good agreement with the in vitro luminescence spectrum by LlLuc2. These results suggest that, in L. lateralis, LlLuc1 is responsible for the yellowish luminescence of larval and adult lanterns, and LlLuc2 is responsible for the dim, greenish glow of eggs and whole pupae. Similar results were obtained in L. cruciata.
authors: Graduate School of Bioagricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan. oba@agr.nagoya-u.ac.jp
authors: Yuichi
authors: Y
authors: Oba
authors: Mana
authors: M
authors: Furuhashi
authors: Manabu
authors: M
authors: Bessho
authors: Shingo
authors: S
authors: Sagawa
authors: Haruyoshi
authors: H
authors: Ikeya
authors: Satoshi
authors: S
authors: Inouye
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D048888:Fireflies / Q000145:classification / Q000254:growth & development; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007564:Japan; D007700:Kinetics; D007814:Larva / Q000378:metabolism; D008156:Luciferases / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010063:Ovum / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D008156:Luciferases