ΔFlucs: Brighter Photinus pyralis firefly luciferases identified by surveying consecutive single amino acid deletion mutations in a thermostable variant

Development of a pH-Tolerant Thermostable Photinus pyralis Luciferase for Brighter In Vivo Imaging

Equilibrium intermediates in the reversible unfolding of firefly (Photinus pyralis) luciferase.

Firefly luciferase has been used as a model protein to study cotranslational and chaperone-assisted protein folding. We found conditions for reversible unfolding of luciferase in the absence of cellular factors, and we characterized denaturant-induced equilibrium unfolding transitions and refolding kinetics of the enzyme. Luciferase unfolding induced by guanidinium chloride at 10 degrees C can ...

Mutagenesis of solvent-exposed amino acids in Photinus pyralis luciferase improves thermostability and pH-tolerance.

Firefly luciferase catalyses a two-step reaction, using ATP-Mg2+, firefly luciferin and molecular oxygen as substrates, leading to the efficient emission of yellow-green light. We report the identification of novel luciferase mutants which combine improved pH-tolerance and thermostability and that retain the specific activity of the wild-type enzyme. These were identified by the mutagenesis of ...

cDNA cloning, expression and homology modeling of a luciferase from the firefly Lampyroidea maculata.

The cDNA of a firefly luciferase from lantern mRNA of Lampyroidea maculata has been cloned, sequenced and functionally expressed. The cDNA has an open reading frame of 1647 bp and codes for a 548-residue-long polypeptide. Noteworthy, sequence comparison as well as homology modeling showed the highest degree of similarity with H. unmunsana and L. mingrelica luciferases, suggesting a close phylog...

Improved thermostability of the North American firefly luciferase: saturation mutagenesis at position 354.

We have used random chemical mutagenesis and a simple genetic screen to generate and isolate a thermostable mutant of luciferase from the North American firefly (Photinus pyralis). A single G-to-A transition mutation, resulting in the substitution of a glutamate for a lysine residue at position 354 in the protein sequence, was shown to be responsible for this enhanced thermostability. Replaceme...