Evidence that ferritin is associated with light production in the mucus of the marine worm Chaetopterus.

ABSTRACT: The blue glow of the mucus from Chaetopterus involves a photoprotein, iron and flavins. Identity and respective role of these components remain, however, largely unresolved today, likely because of viscosity issues and inhibition of this system by oxidizers conventionally used to track bioluminescence activity. Here, we used gentle centrifugation to obtain a mucus supernatant showing no inhibition to oxidizers, allowing for further analysis. We applied conventional chromatographic techniques to isolate major proteins associated with light emission. Luminescence ability of elutriate fractions was tested with hydrogen peroxide to track photoprotein and/or protein-bound chromophore. Fractions producing light contained few major proteins, one with similarity to ferritin. Addition to the mucus

SUBMITTER: Rawat R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5103273 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature