Luciferase from Photinus pyralis (firefly)

Firefly luciferase catalyzes the reaction of luciferin with ATP and leads to the production of yellow-green light. The enzyme has a molecular weight of 62kDa and is expressed in peroxisomes. Luciferase is considered as a model to study protein–anesthetic interactions. Firefly luciferase is highly useful in cell biology and molecular biology, as a reporter of gene function and for the quantification of ATP.

Luciferase from Photinus pyralis (firefly) has been used as a component of lysis solution to measure luminescence signals, as part of the study to determine chemical signals which can activate the karrikin insensitive 2 (KAI2) pathway.

Supplied a a solution in 25mM Tris-acetate, pH 7.8 , 1mM EDTA, 1mM DTT, 0.2M ammonium sulfate, 15% glycerol and 30% ethylene glycol

One luciferase enzyme unit will produce one Relative Light Unit (RLU) at 20-25 °C over a 10 second period, measured in 100 μl assay mixture containing 40 pmol ATP and 15 nmol luciferin in Tris-glycine buffer, pH 7.6, using a GloMax 20/20 Luminometer.

Unit Definition Conversion Factor: There are approximately 9000 Relative Light Units (RLU) per one traditional Light Unit that uses a peak height equivalent to 0.02 μCi of ¹⁴C in a PPO/POPOP cocktail.