title: Comparison of firefly luciferase and NanoLuc luciferase for biophotonic labeling of group A Streptococcus.
abstract: NanoLuc luciferase (Nluc) is an engineered enzyme that catalyses the substrate, furimazine, to produce light. Nluc has higher sensitivity than the commonly used bioluminescent reporter, firefly luciferase (FFluc). We have introduced Nluc into a toxin-antitoxin stabilised plasmid for the efficient labeling of group A Streptococcus. Comparison of signal strength and kinetic properties between Nluc-labeled bacteria and similarly previously-labeled FFluc bacteria, showed that the bioluminescent signal produced by Nluc-labeled bacteria is up to 15-times higher than FFluc-labeled bacteria during the logarithmic phase. However, with Nluc we were unable to differentiate between bacteria that are metabolically active and inactive because of its ATP-independence. Nluc therefore offers a more sensitive reporter but, perhaps, one more restricted for downstream applications.
authors: Department of Molecular Medicine & Pathology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand, mj.loh@auckland.ac.nz.
authors: Jacelyn M S
authors: JM
authors: Loh
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Proft
mesh_terms: D017930:Genes, Reporter; D008156:Luciferases / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D008163:Luminescent Measurements; D008967:Molecular Biology / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods*; D013297:Streptococcus pyogenes / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D008156:Luciferases