A Study of the Inactivation in Vivo of the Luciferase in the Luminous Marine Bacterium Beneckea Harveyi

The inactivation in vivo of the luciferase in stationary phase cultures of the luminous marine bacterium Beneckea harveyi was studied in an effort to elucidate its mechanism. Through studies utilizing inhibitors of metabolic energy production, an inhibitor of protein synthesis, and a mutant in which the luciferase was inactivated at a much slower rate, and through studies of intracellular ATP levels under various conditions, a model for the modulation of luciferase inactivation by a signal metabolite or metabolites of as yet unknown chemical identity was developed, and degradation of the luciferase to its constituent amino acids was ruled out as the direct cause of the inactivation. In a preliminary immunochemical study of the inactivation process, no inactive anti-luciferase cross-reacting material could be detected at any point during the inactivation under any conditions, suggesting that inactivated luciferase is in a form which is unrecognizable by antibodies directed against the native enzyme.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Biochemistry

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Reeve, Carole Anne

• Biology, Microbiology

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(UMI)AAI8114467

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/67410