Luciferase cDNA from Japanese firefly, Luciola cruciata: Cloning, structure and expression in Escherichia coli

We have cloned the cDNA for luciferase from lantern poly(A)+ RNA of a Japanese firefly, Luciola cruciata (Genji botaru in Japanese). This cDNA directed the synthesis of enzymatically active luciferase under the control of the lac promoter in Escherichia coli. The amino acid sequence predicted from the cDNA sequence shows that Genji firefly luciferase consists of 548 amino acids and has a molecular weight of 60,024. Considerable sequence homology was found upon the comparison of the Genji and North American firefly luciferases.