Biosynthesis of Firefly Luciferin in Adult Lantern: Decarboxylation of ʟ-Cysteine is a Key Step for Benzothiazole Ring Formation in Firefly Luciferin Synthesis
Figure 9
Identification of ʟ- and ᴅ-luciferin in an adult lantern of L. lateralis by HPLC analysis and the incorporation of ʟ-cysteine into ᴅ- and ʟ-luciferin.
A. Isolation of ʟ- and ᴅ-firefly luciferin by HPLC analysis with a chiral column. (a) authentic ᴅ-luciferin, (b) authentic ʟ-luciferin, (c) the extracts of L. lateralis lantern without injections, (d) the extracts of L. lateralis lantern after injection with ʟ-Cys[U-13C3] and 1,4-hydroquinone. The peak fractions of 1 and 2, corresponding to ʟ-luciferin and ᴅ-luciferin, respectively, are subjected to ESI-TOF-MS analysis, as shown in Fig. 9B. B. ESI-TOF-MS analyses of the HPLC fractions for ʟ-luciferin and ᴅ-luciferin, separated by HPLC analysis as in Fig.9A–d. (a) ʟ-luciferin separated from the lantern. (b) ᴅ-luciferin separated from the lantern.