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Characterizing the Bioluminescence of the Humboldt Squid, Dosidicus gigas (d'Orbigny, 1835): One of the Largest Luminescent Animals in the World
Author(s) -
Galeazzo Gabriela A.,
Mirza Jeremy D.,
Dorr Felipe A.,
Pinto Ernani,
Stevani Cassius V.,
Lohrmann Karin B.,
Oliveira Anderson G.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
photochemistry and photobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.818
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1751-1097
pISSN - 0031-8655
DOI - 10.1111/php.13106
Subject(s) - bioluminescence , photoprotein , squid , luminescence , luciferin , biology , aequorin , fishery , zoology , biochemistry , physics , luciferase , gene , optoelectronics , transfection , intracellular
Bioluminescence is found in a number of cephalopods, such as Watasenia scintillans and Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis; however, many species remain poorly studied, including the Humboldt squid, Dosidicus gigas . This is the largest member of the Ommastrephidae family and grows to 2 m in length, making it one of the largest luminescent animals ever observed. Humboldt squid have small photophores all over their body that emit a brilliant blue luminescence. Using lyophilized photophores from squid caught off the coast of Chile, experiments were conducted to isolate the luciferin and protein involved in its bioluminescence. Methanolic extracts of the photophores were shown to contain dehydrocoelenterazine, and a membrane‐bound photoprotein was shown to be involved. This photoprotein was purified using ion exchange chromatography, and SDS ‐ PAGE showed a clean band of approximately 60 kDa. The excised band was analyzed by LC / MS , and the obtained data were compared against the transcriptome data of D. gigas , allowing us to find two gene products which displayed high coverage (>80%), the enzymes symplectin and vanin‐2, which potentially associate with light emission process in this organism. Finally, the purified photoprotein was shown to emit a blue light (470 nm) in the presence of dehydrocoelenterazine.