Family of the green fluorescent protein: Journey to the end of the rainbow

• Published in: BioEssays Vol. 24; no. 10; pp. 953 - 959
• Main Authors: Matz, Mikhail V., Lukyanov, Konstantin A., Lukyanov, Sergey A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.10.2002
• Subjects: Animals; Biotechnology - methods; Catalysis; Green Fluorescent Proteins; Luminescent Proteins - chemistry; Luminescent Proteins - classification; Models, Chemical; Models, Genetic; Models, Molecular; Phylogeny; Rats; Scyphozoa
• ISSN: 0265-9247; 1521-1878
• DOI: 10.1002/bies.10154

Members of the family of the Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) are the only known type of natural pigments that are essentially encoded by a single gene, since both the substrate for pigment biosynthesis and the necessary catalytic moieties are provided within a single polypeptide chain. In sharp contrast to the state of knowledge just three years ago when GFP was the only known protein of its kind, a whole family of related proteins, exhibiting striking diversity of features have now been identified. This provides new possibilities for a variety of studies ranging from applied biotechnology to evolutionary ecology. BioEssays 24:953–959, 2002. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.