Bioluminescence Lab (Genetics)

luciferin:

protein that is involved in bioluminescence

what light does 465 nm produce to our eyes?

blue

what organism did we use for this lab?

Cypridina hilgendorf

Cypridina hilgendorf

bioluminescent ostracod crustacean

what is the common name of the organism that we used for this lab?

sea fireflies

luciferase:

enzyme that activates the luciferin and causes it to glow

what is the reaction of the experiment?

luciferin + luciferase + O2 -> oxyluciferin + light

oxyluciferin:

compound resulting from the oxidation luciferin and luciferase

reporter gene:

reports transcription activity

what is the product of this reaction and why does the reaction product disappear?

oxyluciferin, it stops glowing due to it reaching ground state

what action causes the products to glow?

being shaken or moved around

what does heat do to the reaction?

the heating causes luciferase to denature

568 nm produces what kind of light?

yellow

pyrosequencing:

DNA sequencing technology that is based on the generation and detection of a pyrophosphate group liberated from a nucleotide triphosphate

expression levels of the ..... reveals the activity of the ...

reporter gene; promoter