A joint research group of Chubu University, Nagahama Institute of Biotechnology, and Kagoshima University will restore the luciferase of the original firefly that appeared on the earth about 1 million years ago, and reproduce the deep green luminescence different from the current firefly. succeeded in.
It is believed that the first ancestors of fireflies already had the ability to emit light when they appeared about 1 million years ago (Cretaceous).In fact, a fossil of a firefly with a photophore has been found in amber fossils around this time, but of course the color of the luminescence does not remain in the fossil.
About 2000 species of fireflies are known today, and they emit light in various colors from green to yellow-green, yellow, and orange, depending on the species, and these are determined by the difference in the amino acid sequence of the luminescent enzyme called "firefly luciferase."Therefore, in this research, we focus on the method of "ancestral sequence restoration" that computationally restores lost past genetic information, and restores the luciferase sequence of fireflies 1 million years ago to restore the light of ancient fireflies. I tried to reproduce it.
As a result, deep green luminescence was observed, which is different from the yellow-green luminescence of Genji firefly and Heike firefly that are currently seen.Furthermore, as a result of restoring the arrangement of various times before and after the appearance of the first firefly, "Insects of ancestors before the appearance of firefly glowed weakly in red, but the first firefly strongly emitted in deep green. It evolved to emit light, and then the species were divided into fireflies with a wide range of emission colors from green to yellow. "
Since the ancestral sequence restoration so far has never restored a phenomenon that can be seen directly, this research is the first in the world to revive a part of the past scene of the light emission of ancient fireflies. Has great significance.In addition, it is thought that the ancestors of fireflies emitted deep green light to protect them against foreign enemies, and the elucidation of the luminescence mechanism of ancestor luciferase has led to several important findings.
Paper information:[Science Advances] Resurrecting the ancient glow of the fireflies