PPS Blog

In this pioneering study a team from Brazil and China have used site-directed mutagenesis of protoluciferase to better understand the structural evolution of luciferase activity.

A major mystery in bioluminescence is how it arose during evolution.  It is known that beetle luciferases evolved from AMP-CoA-ligases, also known as protoluciferases, which catalyse the activation of carboxylic acids.  In this study a luciferase-like AMP-CoA-ligase from Zophobas morio mealworm was taken as a protoluciferase model.  Site directed mutagenesis was used to replace residues in the carboxylic binding site with the respective ones conserved in beetle luciferases.

The team found that one substitution (I327T) improved the luminescence activity indicating the importance of the β-hairpin motif which it is contained in for bioluminescence activity in beetle luciferases.  It also indicates a possible route for the evolution this activity.

Interested in knowing more?  Read the full article for free until May 20^th!

Structural evolution of luciferase activity in Zophobas mealworm AMP/CoA-ligase (protoluciferase) through site-directed mutagenesis of the luciferin binding site
R. A. Prado, J. A. Barbosa, Y. Ohmiya and V. R. Viviani
Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0PP00392A

The cover photograph was taken by Cristina Poetto in Tafí del Valle, Argentina

Jorge J. Casal and co-workers explain why some long-day plants flower earlier when daylight hours are long (like in the spring or summer) while short-day plants flower earlier when daylight hours are short (for example in the autumn or winter). These different classes of photoperiodic response can be observed among different species and in some cases within a given species.

The Argentinian team led by Casal explored the mechanism controlling levels of proteins such as Flowering Locus T (FT) , Constans (CO) and others. They conclude that “the existence of multiple pathways with contrasting photoperiodic effects on flowering time within a single species, suggests that the photoperiodic behaviour of plants results, at least in part, from the net balance of positive and negative effects of photoperiodic conditions on multiple regulatory pathways”.

Read more about this manuscript here:
Balancing forces in the photoperiodic control of flowering,  Sabrina E. Sanchez, Juan I. Cagnola, María Crepy, Marcelo J. Yanovsky and Jorge J. Casal, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2011, 10, 451-460, DOI: 10.1039/C0PP00252F