BIOLUMINESCENCE – RECENT ADVANCES IN OCEANIC MEASUREMENTS AND LABORATORY APPLICATIONS Edited by David Lapota Bioluminescence – Recent Advances in Oceanic Measurements and Laboratory Applications Edited by David Lapota Published by InTech Janeza Trdine 9, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia Copyright © 2011 InTech All chapters are Open Access distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license, which allows users to download, copy and build upon published articles even for commercial purposes, as long as the author and publisher are properly credited, which ensures maximum dissemination and a wider impact of our publications. After this work has been published by InTech, authors have the right to republish it, in whole or part, in any publication of which they are the author, and to make other personal use of the work. Any republication, referencing or personal use of the work must explicitly identify the original source. 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Publishing Process Manager Martina Durovic Technical Editor Teodora Smiljanic Cover Designer InTech Design Team First published January, 2012 Printed in Croatia A free online edition of this book is available at www.intechopen.com Additional hard copies can be obtained from orders@intechweb.org Bioluminescence – Recent Advances in Oceanic Measurements and Laboratory Applications, Edited by David Lapota p. cm. ISBN 978-953-307-940-0 Contents Preface IX Part 1 Oceanic Measurements of Bioluminescence 1 Chapter 1 Long Term Dinoflagellate Bioluminescence, Chlorophyll, and Their Environmental Correlates in Southern California Coastal Waters 3 David Lapota Chapter 2 Seasonal Changes of Bioluminescence in Photosynthetic and Heterotrophic Dinoflagellates at San Clemente Island 27 David Lapota Part 2 Bioluminescence Imaging Methods 47 Chapter 3 Bioluminescent Proteins: High Sensitive Optical Reporters for Imaging Protein-Protein Interactions and Protein Foldings in Living Animals 49 Ramasamy Paulmurugan Chapter 4 Quantitative Assessment of Seven Transmembrane Receptors (7TMRs) Oligomerization by Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer (BRET) Technology 81 Valentina Kubale, Luka Drinovec and Milka Vrecl Chapter 5 Use of ATP Bioluminescence for Rapid Detection and Enumeration of Contaminants: The Milliflex Rapid Microbiology Detection and Enumeration System 99 Renaud Chollet and Sébastien Ribault Chapter 6 Development of a pH-Tolerant Thermostable Photinus pyralis Luciferase for Brighter In Vivo Imaging 119 Amit Jathoul, Erica Law, Olga Gandelman, Martin Pule, Laurence Tisi and Jim Murray VI Contents Chapter 7 Bioluminescence Applications in Preclinical Oncology Research 137 Jessica Kalra and Marcel B. Bally Part 3 Bacterial Bioluminescence 165 Chapter 8 Oscillation in Bacterial Bioluminescence 167 Satoshi Sasaki Preface As someone who has spent more than 33 years studying the bioluminescence phenomenon in the world’s oceans, I am continuously amazed by the many bioluminescence adaptations marine and terrestrial animals have developed to ensure their existence. It can hardly be considered a random occurrence as it has developed among various types of organisms, such as single celled dinoflagellates to the much more complex forms such as shrimp, fish, squid beetles, and worms. Bioluminescence has many functions, from predator-prey interactions and courtship, to camouflage and alert status from potential predators. We now find ourselves utilizing luciferase – luciferin proteins, ATP, genes and the whole complexities of these interactions to observe and follow the progress or inhibition of tumors in animal models by measuring bioluminescence intensity, spatially and temporally using highly sophisticated camera systems. The following chapters describe applications in preclinical oncology research by bioluminescence imaging (BLI) with a variety of applications. Two other chapters describe current methodologies for rapid detection of contaminants using the Milliflex system, and the use of bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) technology for monitoring physical interactions between proteins in living cells. Others are using bioluminescent proteins for high sensitive optical reporters imaging in living animals, developing pH- tolerant luciferase for brighter in vivo imaging, and oscillation characteristics in bacterial bioluminescence. Lastly, using recent data, two chapters describe the long- term seasonal characteristics of oceanic bioluminescence and the responsible planktonic species producing bioluminescence. Such studies are few and rare. I hope that after you read these chapters, many more questions will come to mind, which will encourage further studies into this fascinating area. Dr David Lapota Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, Pacific San Diego, California U.S.A. [...]... 19 34, Tarasov 19 56, Seliger et al 19 61, Clarke and Kelly 19 65, Bityukov 19 67, Lapota and Losee 19 84, Swift et al 19 85, Lapota et al 19 88, Batchelder and Swift 19 89, Lapota et al 19 89, Lapota and Rosenberger 19 90, Neilson et al 19 95, Ondercin et al 19 95, Swift et al 19 95), little understanding of the seasonality and sources of planktonic bioluminescence in coastal waters and open ocean has emerged Some... P.M.) to 0300 h (3 A.M.) the following day Seasonal changes in bioluminescence were observed in SDB Maximum bioluminescence (1 x 10 8 photons s -1 ml -1 or greater as a threshold) was measured from March through September for 19 93, May through June for 19 94, December through May for 19 95, and March through April 19 96 Minimum bioluminescence (less than 1 x 10 8 photons s -1 ml -1) .. .Part 1 Oceanic Measurements of Bioluminescence 1 Long Term Dinoflagellate Bioluminescence, Chlorophyll, and Their Environmental Correlates in Southern California Coastal Waters David Lapota Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, Pacific USA 1 Introduction While many oceanographic studies have focused on the distribution of bioluminescence in the marine environment (Stukalin 19 34, Tarasov 19 56,... weekly in SDB and monthly at SCI This study provides unique correlated coastal and open ocean data collected on a long-term basis (Figure 1) 4 Bioluminescence – Recent Advances in Oceanic Measurements and Laboratory Applications 2 Methods and materials 2 .1 Bioluminescence measurements Two defined excitation moored bathyphotometers (MOORDEX, University of California, Santa Barbara) were used in San Diego... to annual cycles of bioluminescence were severely limited in duration as well as in the methods used to quantify bioluminescence (Bityukov 19 67, Tett 19 71) Only a few studies have measured bioluminescence on an extended basis, and these were short in duration, usually less than 2 years with long intervals between sets of measurements (Bityukov 19 67, Yentsch and Laird 19 68, Tett 19 71) Others report data... measuring bioluminescence, seawater temperature, and salinity (Lapota and Losee 19 84, Lapota et al 19 88, 19 89) A vertically deployed bathyphotometer capable of measuring bioluminescence, temperature, salinity, beam attenuation, and chlorophyll fluorescence to a depth of 10 0m was used at 4 month intervals (summer, fall, winter, spring) at various stations in the Bight to examine the seasonal changes in the biological... planktonic bioluminescence in any ocean, measurements must be conducted on a continual basis for at least several years in order to evaluate intra- and annual variability and long-term trends In this study, bioluminescence was measured at two fixed stations on a daily long term basis: one in San Diego Bay (SDB) for 4 years (19 92 -19 96) and the other for 2.5 years (19 93 -19 96) at San Clemente Island (SCI),... of 50m for 12 cruises conducted from September 19 92 through April 19 95 These data were used to calculate correlations with bioluminescence, rainfall, and upwelling at SDB 3 Results 3 .1 Mean monthly bioluminescence Hourly bioluminescence data were averaged for each month Because minimal bioluminescence was measured during daylight hours, mean monthly values were based on data collected from 210 0 h (9:00... California Bight 2.3 Upwelling, rainfall, and seawater nutrient data bases Upwelling indices (North Pacific Ocean wind-driven transports) were collected from 19 92 through 19 96 The indices were computed for 33°N latitude (Schwing et al 19 96) and represent monthly average surface pressure data in cubic meters per second along each 10 0 m of coastline (Bakun 19 73, Eppley 19 86) Monthly rainfall data were acquired... standard methods (APHA 19 81) and measured by fluorescence as an estimate of biomass on a Turner Model 11 2 fluorometer (Sequoia-Turner Corp., Mountain View, CA, U.S.A.) and reported as µg L -1 Long Term Dinoflagellate Bioluminescence, Chlorophyll, and Their Environmental Correlates in Southern California Coastal Waters 5 Fig 1 Bioluminescent study area and cruise track of stations within the Southern California . BIOLUMINESCENCE – RECENT ADVANCES IN OCEANIC MEASUREMENTS AND LABORATORY APPLICATIONS Edited by David Lapota Bioluminescence – Recent Advances in Oceanic Measurements. Tarasov 19 56, Seliger et al. 19 61, Clarke and Kelly 19 65, Bityukov 19 67, Lapota and Losee 19 84, Swift et al. 19 85, Lapota et al. 19 88, Batchelder and Swift 19 89, Lapota et al. 19 89, Lapota and. for Brighter In Vivo Imaging 11 9 Amit Jathoul, Erica Law, Olga Gandelman, Martin Pule, Laurence Tisi and Jim Murray VI Contents Chapter 7 Bioluminescence Applications in Preclinical Oncology