scholarly journals Resurrecting the ancient glow

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuichi Oba ◽  
Kaori Konishi ◽  
Daichi Yano ◽  
Hideyuki Shibata ◽  
Dai-ichiro Kato ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Light Emission ◽  
Green Light ◽  
Firefly Luciferase ◽  
Larval Stages ◽  
Orange Yellow ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
The Common ◽  
Firefly Light ◽  
Deep Green

The colour of firefly bioluminescence is primarily determined by the structure of the enzyme luciferase1. To date, firefly luciferase genes have been isolated from over 30 extant species producing light ranging in colour from deep-green to orange-yellow. We have reconstructed ancestral firefly luciferase genes and characterised the enzymatic properties of the recombinant proteins in order to predict ancestral firefly light emission. Results showed that the synthetic luciferase for the last common firefly ancestor exhibited green light. All known firefly species are bioluminescent in the larval stages2, with a common shared ancestor arising approximately 100 Mya3. Combined, our findings propose within the Cretaceous forest the common ancestor of contemporary fireflies emitted green light, most likely for aposematic display from nocturnal predation.

scholarly journals Resurrecting the ancient glow of the fireflies

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (49) ◽  
pp. eabc5705
Author(s):  
Y. Oba ◽  
K. Konishi ◽  
D. Yano ◽  
H. Shibata ◽  
D. Kato ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Recombinant Proteins ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Green Light ◽  
Firefly Luciferase ◽  
Fatty Acyl ◽  
Synthetic Activity ◽  
Spatial Constraint ◽  
Original Function ◽  
Orange Yellow ◽  
The Common

The color of firefly bioluminescence is determined by the structure of luciferase. Firefly luciferase genes have been isolated from more than 30 species, producing light ranging in color from green to orange-yellow. Here, we reconstructed seven ancestral firefly luciferase genes, characterized the enzymatic properties of the recombinant proteins, and determined the crystal structures of the gene from ancestral Lampyridae. Results showed that the synthetic luciferase for the last common firefly ancestor exhibited green light caused by a spatial constraint on the luciferin molecule in enzyme, while fatty acyl-CoA synthetic activity, an original function of firefly luciferase, was diminished in exchange. All known firefly species are bioluminescent in the larvae, with a common ancestor arising approximately 100 million years ago. Combined, our findings propose that, within the mid-Cretaceous forest, the common ancestor of fireflies evolved green light luciferase via trade-off of the original function, which was likely aposematic warning display against nocturnal predation.

Renilla Bioluminescence: A Morphologic Approach to the Location of Photocytes

1974 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 208-209
Author(s):  
Ben O. Spurlock ◽  
Milton J. Cormier
Keyword(s):  
Excited State ◽  
Ground State ◽  
Molecular Basis ◽  
Light Emission ◽  
Chemical Basis ◽  
Electronic Excited State ◽  
Colonial Form ◽  
The Common ◽  
Eighteenth And Nineteenth Centuries ◽  
Catalyzed Oxidation

The phenomenon of bioluminescence has fascinated layman and scientist alike for many centuries. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries a number of observations were reported on the physiology of bioluminescence in Renilla, the common sea pansy. More recently biochemists have directed their attention to the molecular basis of luminosity in this colonial form. These studies have centered primarily on defining the chemical basis for bioluminescence and its control. It is now established that bioluminescence in Renilla arises due to the luciferase-catalyzed oxidation of luciferin. This results in the creation of a product (oxyluciferin) in an electronic excited state. The transition of oxyluciferin from its excited state to the ground state leads to light emission.

The Possible Common Origin of tRNA and 5S rRNA

1983 ◽  
Vol 38 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 501-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mária Ujhelyi
Keyword(s):  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Common Origin ◽  
5S Rrna ◽  
Mitochondrial Trna ◽  
Trna Molecule ◽  
The Common

Seryl tRNA (anticodon GCU) from mammalian mito­chondria shows in comparison to other mitochondrial tRNAs additional special features differing from the generalized tRNA model. When arranged in the tradi­tional cloverleaf form, eight bases fall within the TΨC loop, and the entire dihydrouridine loop is lacking. This seryl tRNA molecule is therefore shorter than other tRNAs. It was originally thought to represent a mito­chondrial analogon of 5 S rRNA and its precise classifica­tion is still disputed. The present studies suggest that this mitochondrial tRNA represents a fossil molecule which is related to the common ancestor of the present tRNA and 5 S rRNA molecules.

scholarly journals Green Light Emission ofZnxCd1-xSeNanocrystals Synthesized by One-Pot Method

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shu-Ru Chung ◽  
Kuan-Wen Wang ◽  
Hong-Shuo Chen
Keyword(s):  
Particle Size ◽  
Optical Properties ◽  
Light Emission ◽  
Green Light ◽  
Particle Size Effect ◽  
Partial Replacement ◽  
Face Centered Cubic ◽  
One Pot ◽  
Zn Content ◽  
High Emission

We present a facile one-pot synthesis to prepare ternaryZnxCd1-xSe(x= 0.2, 0.5, 0.8, and 1) nanocrystals (NCs) with high emission quantum yield (QY, 45~89%). The effect of Zn content (x) ofZnxCd1-xSeNCs on their physical properties is investigated. The NCs have a particle size of 3.2 nm and face centered cubic structure. However, the actual compositions of the NCs are Zn0.03Cd0.97Se, Zn0.11Cd0.89Se, and Zn0.38Cd0.62Se when Zn content is 0.2, 0.5, and 0.8, respectively. In terms of the optical properties, the emission wavelength shifts from 512 to 545 nm with increasing Zn content from 0 to 0.8 while the QY changes from 89 to 45, respectively. Partial replacement of Cd by Zn is beneficial to improve the QY of Zn0.2and Zn0.5NCs. The optical properties of ternary NCs are affected by compositional effect rather than particle size effect.

scholarly journals Role of the Digestive Gland in Ink Production in Four Species of Sea Hares: An Ultrastructural Comparison

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey S. Prince ◽  
Paul Micah Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Digestive Gland ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Aplysia Californica ◽  
Digestive Cell ◽  
Digestive Cells ◽  
Sea Hare ◽  
Red Algal ◽  
The Common ◽  
Algal Chloroplast

The ultrastructure of the digestive gland of several sea hare species that produce different colored ink (Aplysia californicaproduces purple ink,A. julianawhite ink,A. parvulaboth white and purple ink, whileDolabrifera dolabriferaproduces no ink at all) was compared to determine the digestive gland’s role in the diet-derived ink production process. Rhodoplast digestive cells and their digestive vacuoles, the site of digestion of red algal chloroplast (i.e., rhodoplast) inA. californica, were present and had a similar ultrastructure in all four species. Rhodoplast digestive cell vacuoles either contained a whole rhodoplast or fragments of one or were empty. These results suggest that the inability to produce colored ink in some sea hare species is not due to either an absence of appropriate digestive machinery, that is, rhodoplast digestive cells, or an apparent failure of rhodoplast digestive cells to function. These results also propose that the digestive gland structure described herein occurred early in sea hare evolution, at least in the common ancestor to the generaAplysiaandDolabrifera. Our data, however, do not support the hypothesis that the loss of purple inking is a synapomorphy of the white-ink-producing subgenusAplysia.

scholarly journals Measurement of Effects of Antibiotics in Bioluminescent Staphylococcus aureus RN4220

2001 ◽  
Vol 45 (12) ◽  
pp. 3456-3461 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mervi Tenhami ◽  
Kaisa Hakkila ◽  
Matti Karp
Keyword(s):  
Staphylococcus Aureus ◽  
High Throughput Screening ◽  
Pathogenic Bacteria ◽  
Antimicrobial Agents ◽  
Light Emission ◽  
Detection System ◽  
Firefly Luciferase ◽  
Luciferase Reporter ◽  
Luciferase Expression ◽  
Luciferase Reporter Gene

ABSTRACT The spread of antibiotic resistance among pathogenic bacteria is a serious threat to humans and animals. Therefore, unnecessary use should be minimized, and new antimicrobial agents with novel mechanisms of action are needed. We have developed an efficient method for measuring the action of antibiotics which is applied to a gram-positive strain,Staphylococcus aureus RN4220. The method utilizes the firefly luciferase reporter gene coupled to the metal-induciblecadA promoter in a plasmid, pTOO24. Correctly timed induction by micromolar concentrations of antimonite rapidly triggers the luciferase gene transcription and translation. This sensitizes the detection system to the action of antibiotics, and especially for transcriptional and translational inhibitors. We show the results for 11 model antibiotics with the present approach and compare them to an analytical setup with a strain where luciferase expression is under the regulation of a constitutive promoter giving only a report of metabolic inhibition. The measurement of light emission from intact living cells is shown to correlate extremely well (r = 0.99) with the conventional overnight growth inhibition measurement. Four of the antibiotics were within a 20% concentration range and four were within a 60% concentration range of the drugs tested. This approach shortens the assay time needed, and it can be performed in 1 to 4 h, depending on the sensitivity needed. Furthermore, the assay can be automatized for high-throughput screening by the pharmaceutical industry.

Visible Light Emission from Erbium Doped Yttria Stabilized Zirconia

2003 ◽  
Vol 789 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Cross ◽  
Walter Varhue
Keyword(s):  
Band Gap ◽  
Light Emission ◽  
Green Light ◽  
Yttria Stabilized Zirconia ◽  
Stabilized Zirconia ◽  
Rare Earth Ion ◽  
Device Structure ◽  
Insulating Layer ◽  
Light Emitting ◽  
Erbium Doped

ABSTRACT: One of the major shortcomings of silicon (Si) as a semiconductor material is its inability to yield efficient light emission. There has been a continued interest in adding rare earth ion impurities such as erbium (Er) to the Si lattice to act as light emitting centers. The low band gap of Si however has complicated this practice by quenching and absorbing this possible emission. Increasing the band gap of the host has been successfully tried in the case of gallium nitride (GaN) [1] and Si-rich oxide (SRO) [2] alloys. A similar approach has been tried here, where Er oxide (ErOx) nanocrystals have been formed in a yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) host deposited on a Si (100) substrate. The YSZ is deposited as a heteroepitaxial, insulating layer on the Si substrate by a reactive sputtering technique. The Er is also incorporated by a sputtering process from a metallic target and its placement in the YSZ host can be easily controlled. The device structure formed is a simple metal contact/insulator/phosphor sandwich. The device has been found to emit visible green light at low bias voltages. The advantage of this material is that it is much more structured than SiO2 which can theoretically lead to higher emission intensity.

scholarly journals Sexual reproduction and genetic exchange in parasitic protists

Parasitology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 142 (S1) ◽  
pp. S120-S127 ◽  
Author(s):  
GARETH D. WEEDALL ◽  
NEIL HALL
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Genome Sequencing ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Life Cycles ◽  
Animal Disease ◽  
Eukaryotic Evolution ◽  
Sequencing Technology ◽  
Parasite Reproduction ◽  
The Common ◽  
Higher Eukaryotes

SUMMARYA key part of the life cycle of an organism is reproduction. For a number of important protist parasites that cause human and animal disease, their sexuality has been a topic of debate for many years. Traditionally, protists were considered to be primitive relatives of the ‘higher’ eukaryotes, which may have diverged prior to the evolution of sex and to reproduce by binary fission. More recent views of eukaryotic evolution suggest that sex, and meiosis, evolved early, possibly in the common ancestor of all eukaryotes. However, detecting sex in these parasites is not straightforward. Recent advances, particularly in genome sequencing technology, have allowed new insights into parasite reproduction. Here, we review the evidence on reproduction in parasitic protists. We discuss protist reproduction in the light of parasitic life cycles and routes of transmission among hosts.

High-efficiency circularly polarized green light emission from GaN-based laser diodes integrated with GaN metasurface quarterwave plate

2021 ◽  
Vol 119 (24) ◽  
pp. 241103
Author(s):  
Miao Wang ◽  
Yu Lin ◽  
Jue-Min Yi ◽  
De-Yao Li ◽  
Jian-Ping Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Efficiency ◽  
Light Emission ◽  
Laser Diodes ◽  
Green Light ◽  
Circularly Polarized ◽  
Green Light Emission
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