Cypridina Bioluminescence: Light-Emitting Oxyluciferin-Luciferase Complex

Fluorescence of Cypridina oxyluciferin is greatly enhanced when it is bound to luciferase; the spectrum is thereby shifted, so that it corresponds precisely to the emission spectrum characteristic of the bioluminescent oxidation of luciferin. Thus the oxyluciferin-luciferase complex is the light-emi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 1969-06, Vol.164 (3885), p.1299-1300
Main Authors: Shimomura, Osamu, Johnson, Frank H., Masugi, Takashi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bioluminescence
Emission spectra
Fluorescence
Line spectra
Luminescence
Molecular weight
Phosphates
Sodium
Solvents
Wavelengths
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Summary:Fluorescence of Cypridina oxyluciferin is greatly enhanced when it is bound to luciferase; the spectrum is thereby shifted, so that it corresponds precisely to the emission spectrum characteristic of the bioluminescent oxidation of luciferin. Thus the oxyluciferin-luciferase complex is the light-emitter. The binding is equimolar, with dissociation constant K$_{\text{D}}$ equal to 3 $\times $ 10$^{-7}$ mole per liter. The molecular weight of the luciferase, according to three different methods, is between 52,000 and 57,000; molecular activities of luciferase for the bioluminescence reaction and for the hydrolysis of oxyluciferin are 1600 and 2 per minute, respectively.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.164.3885.1299