New luciferases and photoproteins in marine annelids (Annelida) and bioluminescent systems dependent on coelenterazine

• Grant number: 20/07600-7
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: November 01, 2020
• End date: October 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biophysics - Radiology and Photobiology
• Principal Investigator: Anderson Garbuglio de Oliveira
• Grantee: Anderson Garbuglio de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Instituto Oceanográfico (IO). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 21/13355-8 - Determination of the in vitro light emission conditions on new luminescent systems of annelids and coelenterazine based ones, and applications of bioluminescent systems in the detection of marine pollutants., BP.TT; 20/16142-2 - Determination of the in vitro light emission conditions on new luminescent systems of annelids and coelenterazine based ones, and applications of bioluminescent systems in the detection of marine pollutants, BP.TT

Abstract

Bioluminescence, the emission of cold and visible light by living organisms, is a phenomenon produced from the oxidation of a substrate (generically called luciferin) catalyzed by enzymes resulting in photons of visible light. All these reactions use a variety of photoproteins and luciferases, which are currently employed as versatile tools in basic research and for applied purposes.Therefore, this project aims to understand the process of light emission in marine bioluminescent organisms insufficiently researched, such as, in the annelids Chaetopterus variopedatus and Harmothoe sp. Furthermore, organisms that use the molecule of coelenterazine as a substrate, such as cnidarians and ctenophores, collected recently by our group in expeditions along the coast of Brazil and abroad are also targets of the study. Thus, through isolation, cloning, expression and characterization of photoproteins/luciferases present in these organisms, as well as in the purification of new luminescent substrates, the intention is to broaden the understanding of chemical/biochemical mechanisms and ecological functions of bioluminescence. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

OLIVEIRA, ANDERSON G.; AMARAL, DANILO T.; HANNON, MARY COLLEEN; SCHULZE, ANJA. First Record of Bioluminescence in a Sipunculan Worm. FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE, v. 8, p. 9-pg., 2021-10-20. (17/22501-2, 20/07600-7, 18/22304-5)

MORAES, V, GABRIELA; HANNON, MARY COLLEEN; SOARES, DOUGLAS M. M.; STEVANI, V, CASSIUS; SCHULZE, ANJA; OLIVEIRA, ANDERSON G.. Bioluminescence in Polynoid Scale Worms (Annelida: Polynoidae). FRONTIERS IN MARINE SCIENCE, v. 8, FEB 18 2021. (17/22501-2, 20/07600-7, 19/25086-1, 18/22304-5, 19/12605-0)