Click beetle

The fireflies, railroad worms, and click beetles use the same luciferin in their luminescence reactions. Recent studies on the railroad worms and the click beetles have greatly contributed to the biochemical understanding of the firefly bioluminescence (see Section 1.2). Concerning luminous Diptera, significant progress has been made only recently. 

The bioluminescence systems of Phengodidae (railroad worms) and Elateroidae (click beetles) are basically identical to that of Lampyridae (fireflies), requiring firefly luciferin, ATP, Mg2+ and a luciferase for light emission. However, there seem to be some differences. Viviani and Bechara (1995) reported that the spectra of the luminescence reactions measured with the luciferases of Brazilian fireflies (6 species) shift from the yellow-green range to the red range with lowering of the pH of the medium, like in the case of the Photinus pyralis luciferase (see Section 1.1.5), whereas the spectra... 

The elaterid Pyrophorus is of special importance in the history of bioluminescence, because it was used by Dubois in his first demonstration of the luciferin-luciferase reaction in 1885. The Jamaican click beetle (Pyrophorus noctilucus) is commonly found in the West Indies. The beetle possesses two kinds of luminous organs. A... 

Viviani, V. R., et al. (1999a). Cloning and molecular characterization of the cDNA for the Brazilian larval click-beetle Pyrearinus termitilluminans luciferace. Photochem. Photobiol. 70 254-260. 

Click beetles See Elateroidae Clupea, 163 Clytin, 138, 346 cloning, 138... 

Attractive Compounds. Larvae of several click beetle species (wire worms) can be serious pests in agriculture and forestry. In a few cases, sex pheromones produced in a female specific abdominal gland, have been identified. 

The first biologically active compounds identified from click beetles were hexanoic acid and pentanoic acid from Limonius canus and L. californicus, respectively [191]. 

The scarab beetle Osmodenna eremita and its larval predator, the click beetle Elaterferrugineus, are known as indicators of the species richness of insect fauna of hollow deciduous trees in Northern Europe. (R)-4-Decanolide 13 (Figure 4) is the male-produced sex pheromone of 0. eremita 2 Lactone 13 is also employed by E. ferrugineus as a kairomone for the detection of tree hollows containing the larvae of 0. eremita u... 

Plant yellow and stunted, wilts during hot days and recovers at night. Causes Wire-worms bean leaf beetle larvae root knot nematodes. If you suspect any of these pests, pull up a plant and examine the roots. Wireworm larvae are up to 1 A", yellow to reddish brown, slender, tough-bodied, segmented grubs. Adults are A" long, dark-colored, elongated click beetles. Apply parasitic nematodes to the soil to control. 

Wireworms are I A" long, yellow to reddish brown, slender, tough-bodied, segmented larvae with brown heads. Adults are dark-colored, elongated click beetles. 

Clematis wilt, 74 Click beetles corn and, 77 Gladiolus and, 106 Clover, 418... 

The biosynthesis of luciferin (23) in the luminescent click beetle, Pyrophorus pellucens, is proposed to occur via the reaction of quinone with cysteine to give an intermediate benzothiazine, which on further reaction with cysteine gives the benzothiazole. But preliminary studies with 14C-labeled cysteine indicated, however, that an alternative fate for the first-formed thiazine, involving oxidation and ring contraction, may have to be considered.44... 

Generate Constructs for Click Beetle Luciferase Complementation Fusion Proteins... 

Plate cells at a density of 1 X 10 —2 X 10 cells per well in 100 pi complete growth medium with serum in black walled, clear bottom 96-well plates for tissue culture. Since complementation of click beetle luciferase fragments produces less bioluminescence than intact CBGN or red, we typically use 96-weIl rather than 384-weU plates for cell-based assays. This approach allows us to use shorter acquisition times in each emission channel and improves resolution for kinetics of signahng. For 384-weU plate assays, we use 3 x 10 —5 X 10 cells perweU. We typically culture cells for two days in 96-weU plates before assays. 

Villalobos, V., Naik, S., Bruinsma, M., Dothaget, R., Pan, M., Samrakindi, M., etal. (2010). Dual-color click beetle luciferase heteroprotein fiagment complementation assays. Chemistry Biology, 17, 1018—1029. 

---