CLONING, EXPRESSION and SEQUENCE ANALYSIS OF cDNA FOR THE LUCIFERASES FROM THE JAPANESE FIREFLIES, Pyrocoelia tniyako AND Hotaria parvula

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Abstract
Abstract—Cloning and sequence analysis of cDNA for the luciferases ofPyrocoelia miyakoandHotaria parvulawere carried out (GenBank accession numbers L39928 and L39929, respectively). The amino acid sequence, deduced from the nucleotide sequence, showedP. miyakoluciferase to consist of 548 amino acid residues with a molecular weight of 60955, while the luciferase ofH. parvulaconsisted of 548 amino acid residues with a molecular weight of 60 364.Pyrocoelia miyakoluciferase showed 82.1 % homology with the luciferase ofPhotinus pyralisand less than 70% homology with other firefly luciferases, whereasH. parvulaluciferase showed 98%, 82.5% and 81.2% homology with the luciferases ofLuciola mingrelica, Luciola lateralisandLuciola cruciata,respectively. Two regions in the enzymes were found to be highly conserved. The amino acid sequences were used to construct a phylogenetic tree, which showed that the fireflies could be divided into two groups.