Etmopterus lantern sharks use coelenterazine as the substrate for their luciferin-luciferase bioluminescence system

Gaku Mizuno,Daichi Yano,José Paitio,Hiromitsu Endo,Yuichi Oba

doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2021.09.007

Gaku Mizuno, Daichi Yano + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbrc.2021.09.007

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Abstract

The lantern shark genus Etmopterus contains approximately 40 species of deep-sea bioluminescent cartilaginous fishes. They emit blue light mainly from the ventral body surface. The biological functions of this bioluminescence have been discussed based on the luminescence patterns, but the bioluminescence mechanism remains uncertain. In this study, we detected both coelenterazine and coelenterazine-dependent luciferase activity in the ventral photophore tissue of Etmopterus molleri. The results suggested that bioluminescence in lantern sharks is produced using coelenterazine as the substrate for the luciferin-luciferase reaction, as some luminous bony fishes.

Highlights

Bioluminescence in cartilaginous fish has been reported in species of the squaliform families Dalatiidae, Etmopteridae, and Somniosidae[1,2]
Liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) analysis of the active fraction showed the molecular and fragment ion patterns (Fig. 2C) exactly agreement with those of coelenterazine (Fig. 2D)[19]. These results suggest that the crude methanol extract contained a compound that exhibited luciferin activity to intrinsic luciferase, and that the intrinsic luciferin is coelenterazine
The luminescence activities of luciferase with coelenterazine were predominant in ventral skin compared to other tissues for three species of Etmopterus, E. molleri, E. pusillus, and E. brachyurus

Summary

Introduction

Bioluminescence in cartilaginous fish has been reported in species of the squaliform families Dalatiidae, Etmopteridae, and Somniosidae[1,2]. We detected both coelenterazine and coelenterazinespecific luciferase activity in the ventral photophore tissues. Luminescence activities of various tissues in response to coelenterazine were examined in three species of Etmopterus: E. molleri, E. pusillus, E. brachyurus.

Results

Conclusion