Asset Details
Do you wish to reserve the book?
A putative chordate luciferase from a cosmopolitan tunicate indicates convergent bioluminescence evolution across phyla
Hey, we have placed the reservation for you!
By the way, why not check out events that you can attend while you pick your title.
Oops! Something went wrong.
Looks like we were not able to place the reservation. Kindly try again later.
Are you sure you want to remove the book from the shelf?
A putative chordate luciferase from a cosmopolitan tunicate indicates convergent bioluminescence evolution across phyla
Do you wish to request the book?
A putative chordate luciferase from a cosmopolitan tunicate indicates convergent bioluminescence evolution across phyla
Please be aware that the book you have requested cannot be checked out. If you would like to checkout this book, you can reserve another copy
We have requested the book for you!
Your request is successful and it will be processed during the Library working hours. Please check the status of your request in My Requests.
Oops! Something went wrong.
Looks like we were not able to place your request. Kindly try again later.
Journal Article
A putative chordate luciferase from a cosmopolitan tunicate indicates convergent bioluminescence evolution across phyla
2020
Overview
Pyrosomes are tunicates in the phylum Chordata, which also contains vertebrates. Their gigantic blooms play important ecological and biogeochemical roles in oceans.
Pyrosoma
, meaning “fire-body”, derives from their brilliant bioluminescence. The biochemistry of this light production is unknown, but has been hypothesized to be bacterial in origin. We found that mixing coelenterazine—a eukaryote-specific luciferin—with
Pyrosoma atlanticum
homogenate produced light. To identify the bioluminescent machinery, we sequenced
P. atlanticum
transcriptomes and found a sequence match to a cnidarian luciferase (RLuc). We expressed this novel luciferase (PyroLuc) and, combined with coelenterazine, it produced light. A similar gene was recently predicted from a bioluminescent brittle star, indicating that RLuc-like luciferases may have evolved convergently from homologous dehalogenases across phyla (Cnidaria, Echinodermata, and Chordata). This report indicates that a widespread gene may be able to functionally converge, resulting in bioluminescence across animal phyla, and describes and characterizes the first putative chordate luciferase.
