The importance and applicability of ionic liquids (ILs) in biocatalysis have been well recognized. ILs have growing interest as new and highly efficient reaction mediums for biocatalytic reactions, but as a reaction milieu for firefly luciferase has not been tested. In this report, the effects of two tetramethylguanidine-based ionic liquids on the activity and stability of Photinus pyralis luci...

A relatively simple, very sensitive bioluminescence-enhanced detection system for protein blots is described. The method utilizes antibodies conjugated with alkaline phosphatase. The alkaline phosphatase then takes part in a reaction by releasing D-luciferin (Photinus pyralis) from D-luciferin-O-phosphate. Liberated D-luciferin reacts with luciferase, ATP and oxygen with light emission. The lig...

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 ...

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 ...

Error-prone PCR was used to isolate Photinus pyralis luciferase mutants producing bright light in the red-orange region of the spectrum. All mutations were clustered in the beta5-alpha10-beta6 region of N-terminal subdomain B and appear to affect bioluminescence color by modulating the position of the Ser314-Leu319 mobile loop with respect to the putative active site. Two red variants (Q283R an...

The timing of events in the life history of temperate insects is most typically primarily cued by one of two drivers: photoperiod or temperature accumulation over the growing season. However, an insect's phenology can also be moderated by other drivers like rainfall or the phenology of its host plants. When multiple drivers of phenology interact, there is greater potential for phenological asyn...