Zooxanthellamide D, a polyhydroxy polyene amide from a marine dinoflagellate, and chemotaxonomic perspective of the Symbiodinium polyols.

A long-chain polyhydroxy polyene amide, zooxanthellamide D (ZAD-D, 1, C54H83NO19), was isolated from a cultured marine dinoflagellate of the genus Symbiodinium. ZAD-D (1) is a polyhydroxy amide consisting of a C22-acid part and a C32-amine part and furnishes three tetrahydropyran rings and six isolated butadiene chromophores. The relative stereochemistry of the tetrahydropyran ring systems was elucidated by NMR techniques.

Identification of paralogous genes of firefly luciferase in the Japanese firefly, Luciola cruciata.

Two homologous genes of firefly luciferase, LcLL1 and LcLL2, were cloned from the Japanese firefly Luciola cruciata, and were expressed and characterized. The gene product of LcLL1 had long-chain fatty acyl-CoA synthetic activity, but not luciferase activity. The other gene product of LcLL2 did not show enzymatic activities of acyl-CoA synthetase and luciferase.