Bioluminescence chemistry of fireworm Odontosyllis
Abstract
Marine polychaetes Odontosyllis undecimdonta , commonly known as fireworms, emit bright blue-green bioluminescence. Until the recent identification of the Odontosyllis luciferase enzyme, little progress had been made toward characterizing the key components of this bioluminescence system. Here we present the biomolecular mechanisms of enzymatic (leading to light emission) and nonenzymatic (dark) oxidation pathways of newly described O. undecimdonta luciferin. Spectral studies, including 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and X-ray diffraction, of isolated substances allowed us to characterize the luciferin as an unusual tricyclic sulfur-containing heterocycle. Odontosyllis luciferin does not share structural similarity with any other known luciferins. The structures of the Odontosyllis bioluminescent system’s low molecular weight components have enabled us to propose chemical transformation pathways for the enzymatic and nonspecific oxidation of luciferin.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Aug 28, 2019
- Source ID
- 10.1073/pnas.1902095116
Entities
People
- Aleksandra S. Tsarkova
- Alexey A. Kotlobay
- Bruce R Branchini
- Elena B. Guglya
- Gleb Bourenkov
- Igor A. Ivanov
- Igor Eliseev
- Ilia Yampolsky
- Konstantin V. Purtov
- Maxim A. Dubinnyi
- Natalja S. Rodionova
- Pavel V. Dorovatovskii
- Rustam H. Ziganshin
- Vadim S. Kublitski
- Valentin N. Petushkov
- Yaroslav V. Bolt
- Yuichi Oba
- Yulia V. Nelyubina
- Zinaida M. Kaskova
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Chubu University
- Connecticut College
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory
- Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
- National Research Centre Kurchatov Institute
- Russian Academy of Sciences
- Russian National Research Medical University
- Russian Science Foundation