Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Thompson EM
PROVIDER: S-EPMC297885 | biostudies-other | 1989 Sep
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
Thompson E M EM Nagata S S Tsuji F I FI
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 19890901 17
The marine ostracod Vargula hilgendorfii ejects luciferin and luciferase into seawater to produce a bright luminous cloud. The light is due to the oxidation of luciferin, an imidazopyrazine compound, by molecular oxygen, catalyzed by luciferase. The mechanism of the reaction has been studied extensively and the 60 kcal/mol required for the blue emission have been shown to be derived from the oxidation of luciferin via a dioxetanone intermediate, in which the excited state oxyluciferin bound to l ...[more]