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Characterization of Novel Orange Fluorescent Protein Cloned from Cnidarian Tube Anemone Cerianthus sp.

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Abstract

A novel orange fluorescent protein (OFP) was cloned from the tentacles of Cnidarian tube anemone Cerianthus sp. It consists of 222 amino acid residues with a calculated molecular mass of 25.1 kDa. A BLAST protein sequence homology search revealed that native OFP has 81% sequence identity to Cerianthus membranaceus green fluorescent protein (cmFP512), 38% identity to Entacmaea quadricolor red fluorescent protein (eqFP611), 37% identity to Discosoma red fluorescent protein (DsRed), 36% identity to Fungia concinna Kusabira-orange fluorescent protein (KO), and a mere 21% identity to green fluorescent protein (GFP). It is most likely that OFP also adopts the 11-strand β-barrel structure of fluorescent proteins. Spectroscopic analysis indicated that it has a wide absorption spectrum peak at 548 nm with two shoulders at 487 and 513 nm. A bright orange fluorescence maximum at 573 nm was observed when OFP was excited at 515 nm or above. When OFP was excited well below 515 nm, a considerable amount of green emission maximum at 513 nm was also observed. It has a fluorescence quantum yield (Φ) of 0.64 at 25°C. The molar absorption coefficients (ɛ) of folded OFP at 278 and 548 nm are 47,000 and 60,000 M-1−1 • cm-1−1, respectively. Its fluorescent brightness (ɛ Φ) at 25°C is 38,400 M−1-1 • cm−1-1. Like other orange-red fluorescent proteins, OFP is also tetrameric. It was readily expressed as soluble protein in Escherichia coli at 37°C, and no aggregate was observed in transfected HeLa cells under our experimental conditions. Fluorescent intensity of OFP is detectable over a pH range of 3 to 12.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by RGC Earmarked Grant CUHK4571/05M and Direct Grant from CUHK.

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  1. Department of Biochemistry, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Denis Tsz-Ming Ip, Kam-Bo Wong & David Chi-Cheong Wan

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  1. Denis Tsz-Ming Ip
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Correspondence to David Chi-Cheong Wan.

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Ip, D.TM., Wong, KB. & Wan, D.CC. Characterization of Novel Orange Fluorescent Protein Cloned from Cnidarian Tube Anemone Cerianthus sp.. Mar Biotechnol 9, 469–478 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10126-007-9005-5

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