Biosynthesis of firefly luciferin in adult lantern: decarboxylation of L-cysteine is a key step for benzothiazole ring formation in firefly luciferin synthesis.

Bioluminescence in fireflies and click beetles is produced by a luciferase-luciferin reaction. The luminescence property and protein structure of firefly luciferase have been investigated, and its cDNA has been used for various assay systems. The chemical structure of firefly luciferin was identifie...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yuichi Oba, Naoki Yoshida, Shusei Kanie, Makoto Ojika, Satoshi Inouye
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3877152?pdf=render