Luciferase Genes as Reporter Reactions: How to Use Them in Molecular Biology?

: The latest advances in molecular biology have made available several biotechnological tools that take advantage of the high detectability and quantum efficiency of bioluminescence (BL), with an ever-increasing number of novel applications in environmental, pharmaceutical, food, and forensic fields. Indeed, BL proteins are being used to develop ultrasensitive binding assays and cell-based assays, thanks to their high detectability and to the availability of highly sensitive BL instruments. The appealing aspect of molecular biology tools relying on BL reactions is their general applicability in both in vitro assays, such as cell cultures or purified proteins, and in vivo settings, such as in whole-animal BL imaging. The aim of this chapter is to provide the reader with an overview of state-of-the-art bioluminescent tools based on luciferase genes, highlighting molecular biology strategies that have been applied so far, together with some selected examples.

Outburst of Jupiter's synchrotron radiation after the impact of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.

Jupiter's nonthermal microwave emission, as measured by a global network of 11 radio telescopes, increased dramatically during the Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacts. The increase was wavelength-dependent, varying from approximately 10 percent at 70 to 90 centimeters to approximately 45 percent at 6 and 36 centimeters. The radio spectrum hardened (flattened toward shorter wavelengths) considerably during the week of impacts and continued to harden afterward. After the week of cometary impacts, the flux density began to subside at all wavelengths and was still declining 3 months later. Very Large Array and Australia Telescope images of the brightness distribution showed the enhancement to be localized in longitude and concentrated near the magnetic equator. The evidence therefore suggests that the increase in flux density was caused by a change in the resident particle population, for example, through an energization or spatial redistribution of the emitting particles.