title: Extraction and purification of a luminiferous substance from the luminous mushroom Mycena chlorophos.
abstract: Bioluminescence has attracted considerable attention in the area of biophysics, primarily because the phenomenon can fundamentally be interpreted as the conversion of chemical to light energy. Although the molecular mechanisms underlying luminescence have been studied extensively in fireflies and bacteria, few studies have been undertaken in luminous fungi. This relative lack of information is likely due to the absence of a common and species-specific reaction-type in the luminous fungi examined to date. We recently succeeded in extracting, for the first time, a luminiferous substance from the fungus Mycena chlorophos. The substance was purified and characterized according to its chemical and optical properties. It is hoped that this information will facilitate the clarification of a novel molecular mechanism in fungal bioluminescence systems.
authors: Faculty of Life Sciences, Toyo University, Gunma 374-0193, Japan.
authors: Shuhei
authors: S
authors: Hayashi
authors: Institute of Regional Vitalization Studies, Toyo University, Gunma 374-0193, Japan.
authors: Ryuichi
authors: R
authors: Fukushima
authors: Faculty of Life Sciences, Toyo University, Gunma 374-0193, Japan; Institute of Regional Vitalization Studies, Toyo University, Gunma 374-0193, Japan.
authors: Naohisa
authors: N
authors: Wada
keywords: Active oxygen; Biological conversion of chemical energy into light energy; High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC); Luciferin-luciferase (L-L) reaction; Luminiferous fungi