Abstract
A series of cDNA clones encoding luciferases with four different colors was obtained from the bioluminescent click beetle, Pyrophorus plagiophalam. The click beetle genes have been developed as a reporter vector system and have become available commercially. The multi-color luciferases provide an ideal dual-reporter system because the two reporter enzymes are highly similar and because both signals are generated by D-luciferin treatment. To investigate the usefulness of multi-color luciferases as reporter genes in higher plants, we assayed the transient expression of luciferase genes by microprojectile bombardment. Although their expression levels were relatively low, luminescence from green and red luciferases were separable under the CCD camera equipped with interference filters. Results of time-course experiments and the inducible promoter assay suggest that the multi-color luciferase system is applicable to plant cells. We will present examples of the use of green and red luciferases to monitor regulated gene expression in higher plants.
