The Enzyme Hunt
Tracking down the elusive luciferin synthase that could unlock autonomous bioluminescence in plants.
Since Keith Wood's landmark 1986 experiment, no one has achieved autonomous firefly bioluminescence in plants: the missing piece is the enzyme that synthesizes luciferin. Through computational analysis of firefly genomes, I've identified certain candidates.
Timeline
PTS1 mining reveals two missing pathway steps
Used peroxisome-targeting signal (PTS1) analysis as an orthogonal filter on the full firefly proteome. Identified PPYR_01108 (peroxisomal 4CL/PACS, the missing peroxisomal activation step) and PPYR_09240 (AMACR/lantern racemase, the missing chiral-inversion step), two candidates invisible to differential expression filtering. Updated construct now has seven TUs.
Read the full deep dive →Mining Fallon et al. for luciferin pathway candidates
Applied two-layer filtering (expression + enzyme annotation) to Fallon's differential expression data, reducing 15,773 genes to 18 enzyme candidates. After manual review, cross-species BLAST, and phylogenetic analysis, identified four novel candidates (PPYR_14756, PPYR_02911, PPYR_02910, PPYR_14056) for luciferin biosynthesis.
Read the full deep dive →Investigated copper oxidase PPYR_12315 (refuted)
Identified PPYR_12315 as a highly expressed copper oxidase in the firefly lantern. After AlphaFold analysis, substrate fitting, and cross-species BLAST, HMMER profile analysis revealed it was a lysyl oxidase (LOXL2), not a laccase. Hypothesis refuted.
Read the full investigation →