Identification of a Fluorescent Protein from Rhacostoma Atlantica.

We have cloned a novel fluorescent protein from the jellyfish Rhacostoma atlantica. The closest known related fluorescent protein is the Phialidium yellow fluorescent protein, with only a 55% amino acid sequence identity. A somewhat unusual alanine-tyrosine-glycine amino acid sequence forms the presumed chromophore of the novel protein.

Phosphorus sequestration in the form of polyphosphate by microbial symbionts in marine sponges.

Marine sponges are major habitat-forming organisms in coastal benthic communities and have an ancient origin in evolution history. Here, we report significant accumulation of polyphosphate (polyP) granules in three common sponge species of the Caribbean coral reef. The identity of the polyP granules was confirmed by energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and by the fluorescence properties of the granules.

Reduced lifetimes are directly correlated with excitation irradiance in metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF).

We describe a fundamental observation in Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence (MEF), which has become a leading technology in the life sciences today, namely, how the lifetime of fluorophores near-to metallic plasmon-supporting silver islands/nanoparticles, modulates as a function of excitation power irradiance. This finding is in stark contrast to that observed in classical far-field fluorescence spectroscopy, where excitation power does not influence fluorophore radiative decay/lifetime.