Structure, Mechanism, and Mutation of Bacterial Luciferase

Bacterial luciferase is a flavin-dependent monooxygenase found in bioluminescent bacteria. The enzyme catalyzes a light-emitting reaction by using reduced flavin, long chain aldehyde, and oxygen as substrates and yields oxidized flavin, carboxylic acid, and water as products with concomitant emission of blue-green light around 485–490 nm. The enzyme is a heterodimer consisting of two homologous subunits, designated as the α- and β-subunits. The reactive reaction center is located in the α-subunit, whereas the β-subunit is required for maintaining the active conformation of the α-subunit. The enzyme reaction occurs through the generation of a reactive C4a-oxygenflavin adduct, presumably C4a-peroxyflavin, before the light-emitting species is generated from the decomposition of an adduct between the C4a-peroxyflavin and the aldehyde. Because the luciferase reaction generates light, the enzyme has the potential to be used as a bioreporter for a wide variety of applications. With the recent invention of the fusion enzyme that can be expressed in mammalian cells, future possibilities for the development of additional bioreporter applications are promising.