Issue Information

Front cover: Fireflies are flying and glowing fantastically. Patterns of firefly squids, ‘yakoutake’ (glowing mushrooms; Mycena chlorophos) and ‘ow.urage’ (crystal jelly; Aequorea victoria) are seen on kimono. They share a common mechanism in which a class of chemiluminescent substrate (luciferin) is oxidized and excited by the catalytic function of a class of enzymes (luciferase), and light is emitted as a result. There has been a custom of appreciating the glow of fireflies in Japan since ancient times, however, it was possible only for a short period in early summer. Life scientists today are lucky to admire the chemiluminescent signal throughout the year. The structural formulas
in the sky, and on the woman's and child's round fans are those of firefly luciferin, its dioxetane derivative and excited oxyluciferin, respectively. Designed by TRAIS Co., Ltd. (Kobe, Japan).

Source: Genes to Cells - June 13, 2017 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Tags: Issue Information Source Type: research