Aequorea victoria
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Aequorea victoria |
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| ( Murbach & Shearer , 1902) |
Aequorea victoria is a species of jellyfish from the Pacific Ocean that occurs on the North American coast from California to Vancouver . It feeds mainly on crustaceans , but can alsoeatother comb jellyfish .
The diameter of the bell body of the jellyfish when fully grown is 8 to 20 cm, depending on the environmental conditions and habitat. This species of jellyfish belongs to the Aequoreidae family . Like all its conspecifics, it is mainly driven by the current . Since waste that has entered the ocean is also spread with these currents, the jellyfish are exposed to increased concentrations of pollutants.
Aequorea victoria have brightly fluorescent spots around the side edge of the bell body. The components required for this bioluminescence include a Ca 2+ -activated photoprotein , called aequorin , which emits a blue light. In addition, aequorin can transfer energy to the green fluorescent protein via the Förster resonance energy transfer, which is responsible for a green glow. The light is produced in the jellyfish in more than 100 thin light-producing organs that surround the outer bell body.
Aequorea aequorea
Osamu Shimomura , the discoverer of Aequorin and GFP, doubts that Aequorea victoria is a species in its own right. In his opinion, the species name Aequorea aequorea has priority with the first description by Forskal in 1775. The species usually has a high morphological variability, so that the description of Aequorea victoria as a separate species on the basis of morphological differences is not justified. Genetic data are lacking for a reliable differentiation.
application
The fluorescent protein from Aequorea victoria is used as a reporter gene in many cases, especially in molecular biology . The genes for the green fluorescent protein (GFP) and the aequorin have been isolated and cloned and can thus be produced by genetic engineering.
In 2008 the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie and Roger Tsien for the “discovery and further development of the green fluorescent protein” .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kendall JM, Badminton MN: Aequorea victoria bioluminescence moves into an exciting new era . In: Trends Biotechnol . . 16, No. 5, May 1998, pp. 216-24. PMID 9621461 .
- ↑ Osamu Shimomura: Discovery of green fluorescent protein: A note on the species name of the jellyfish from which Aequorin and GFP were isolated. In: Martin Chalfie, Steven R. Kain (Eds.): Green fluorescent protein: Properties, applications and protocols. (= Methods of Biochemical Analysis. Volume 47), Wiley Interscience Verlag Technik, 2006, ISBN 978-0-471-73682-0 , p. 9ff.