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. 2014 Oct 14;53(40):6287-9.
doi: 10.1021/bi501202u. Epub 2014 Oct 1.

A Photinus pyralis and Luciola italica chimeric firefly luciferase produces enhanced bioluminescence

Bruce R Branchini  1 , Tara L Southworth, Danielle M Fontaine, Audrey L Davis, Curran E Behney, Martha H Murtiashaw
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A Photinus pyralis and Luciola italica chimeric firefly luciferase produces enhanced bioluminescence

Bruce R Branchini et al. Biochemistry. .

Abstract

We report the enhanced bioluminescence properties of a chimeric enzyme (PpyLit) that contains the N-domain of recombinant Photinus pyralis luciferase joined to the C-domain of recombinant Luciola italica luciferase. Compared to the P. pyralis enzyme, the novel PpyLit chimera exhibited 1.8-fold enhanced flash-height specific activity, 2.0-fold enhanced integration-based specific activity, 2.9-fold enhanced catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km), and a 1.4-fold greater bioluminescence quantum yield. The results of this study provide an underlying basis of this unusual example of a chimeric enzyme with enhanced catalytic properties that are not simply the sum of the contributions of the two luciferases.

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