Laboratory culture of the California Sea Firefly Vargula tsujii (Ostracoda: Cypridinidae): Developing a model system for the evolution of marine bioluminescence.

ABSTRACT: Bioluminescence, or the production of light by living organisms via chemical reaction, is widespread across Metazoa. Laboratory culture of bioluminescent organisms from diverse taxonomic groups is important for determining the biosynthetic pathways of bioluminescent substrates, which may lead to new tools for biotechnology and biomedicine. Some bioluminescent groups may be cultured, including some cnidarians, ctenophores, and brittle stars, but those use luminescent substrates (luciferins) obtained from their diets, and therefore are not informative for determination of the biosynthetic pathways of the luciferins. Other groups, including terrestrial fireflies, do synthesize their own luciferin, but culturing them is difficult and the biosynthetic pathway for firefly luciferin remains uncle

SUBMITTER: Goodheart JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7320024 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature