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Lingulodinium polyedrum dinoflagellate luciferase
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Lingulodinium polyedrum, a marine dinoflagellate often responsible for red tide, posesses a unique-domain luciferase enyzme. When mechanically stimulated, the organism uses this enzyme to produce a blue light, likely for use in quorum sensing.
Introduction
In L. polyedrum, the luciferase enzyme is a single polypeptide chain folded into 3 similiar domains. Each domain participates in its own reaction with luciferin, allowing for simultaneous luciferase reactions to take place on the same protein.
Luciferase Reaction
Typically, luciferases produce light through a high energy complex with a luciferin cofactor, and ATP. In L. polyedrum, the process is pH specific, requiring an optimal pH of about
