Recombinant Ca2+-regulated photoproteins of ctenophores: current knowledge and application prospects.

Recombinant Ca2+-regulated photoproteins of ctenophores: current knowledge and application prospects. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2019 Jun 06;: Authors: Burakova LP, Vysotski ES Abstract Bright bioluminescence of ctenophores is conditioned by Ca2+-regulated photoproteins. Although they share many properties characteristic of hydromedusan Ca2+-regulated photoproteins responsible for light emission of marine animals belonging to phylum Cnidaria, a substantial distinction still exists. The ctenophore photoproteins appeared to be extremely sensitive to light-they lose the ability for bioluminescence on exposure to light over the entire absorption spectrum. Inactivation is irreversible because keeping the inactivated photoprotein in the dark does not recover its activity. The capability to emit light can be restored only by incubation of inactivated photoprotein with coelenterazine in the dark at alkaline pH in the presence of oxygen. Although these photoproteins were discovered many years ago, only the cloning of cDNAs encoding these unique bioluminescent proteins in the early 2000s has provided a new impetus for their studies. To date, cDNAs encoding Ca2+-regulated photoproteins from four different species of luminous ctenophores have been cloned. The amino acid sequences of ctenophore photoproteins turned out to completely differ from those of hydromedusan photoproteins (identity less than 29%) though also similar to them having three E...
Source: Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology - Category: Microbiology Authors: Tags: Appl Microbiol Biotechnol Source Type: research