RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Mechanism and color modulation of fungal bioluminescence JF Science Advances JO Sci Adv FD American Association for the Advancement of Science SP e1602847 DO 10.1126/sciadv.1602847 VO 3 IS 4 A1 Kaskova, Zinaida M. A1 Dörr, Felipe A. A1 Petushkov, Valentin N. A1 Purtov, Konstantin V. A1 Tsarkova, Aleksandra S. A1 Rodionova, Natalja S. A1 Mineev, Konstantin S. A1 Guglya, Elena B. A1 Kotlobay, Alexey A1 Baleeva, Nadezhda S. A1 Baranov, Mikhail S. A1 Arseniev, Alexander S. A1 Gitelson, Josef I. A1 Lukyanov, Sergey A1 Suzuki, Yoshiki A1 Kanie, Shusei A1 Pinto, Ernani A1 Di Mascio, Paolo A1 Waldenmaier, Hans E. A1 Pereira, Tatiana A. A1 Carvalho, Rodrigo P. A1 Oliveira, Anderson G. A1 Oba, Yuichi A1 Bastos, Erick L. A1 Stevani, Cassius V. A1 Yampolsky, Ilia V. YR 2017 UL http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/3/4/e1602847.abstract AB Bioluminescent fungi are spread throughout the globe, but details on their mechanism of light emission are still scarce. Usually, the process involves three key components: an oxidizable luciferin substrate, a luciferase enzyme, and a light emitter, typically oxidized luciferin, and called oxyluciferin. We report the structure of fungal oxyluciferin, investigate the mechanism of fungal bioluminescence, and describe the use of simple synthetic α-pyrones as luciferins to produce multicolor enzymatic chemiluminescence. A high-energy endoperoxide is proposed as an intermediate of the oxidation of the native luciferin to the oxyluciferin, which is a pyruvic acid adduct of caffeic acid. Luciferase promiscuity allows the use of simple α-pyrones as chemiluminescent substrates.