Proteomic approach to the bioluminescent dinoflagellate Pyrocystislunula

Trabajo presentado en las V Jornadas de Jóvenes Investigadores en Proteómica, celebradas en Toledo el 19 y 20 de junio de 2017.Some living organisms are able to produce light by a chemical reaction in a process named bioluminescence. This capacity is widely distributed in all organisms appearing in insects, microorganism, fungi, etc. In spite of minor differences, all bioluminiscentorganism based this process in the interaction of the substrate luciferin with the enzyme luciferase. Recently, bioluminescence is being applied to different biotechnology procedures. P. lunula is a bioluminiscent Dinoflagellate with crescent-shaped cell morphology of 0.15 mm in length. During the night, cells produce blue light when shaken or disturbed. Due to the great potential for biotechnology innovation that is present in seas and oceans, we select this microalgae to explore it protein content looking for new pharmaceuticals or industrial products. In addition, we expect go into the bioluminescent process of this organism exploring its potent biotechnological applications. Flask containing P. lunula samples were cultured in L1 medium under 12h photoperiod at 22°C. Protein extracts were obtained by Phenol-TCA-Acetone based method. Tryptic protein peptides were identified by LC-MS. Due to the lack of molecular information of this microorganism, transcriptome database was generated. This is the first approach to the proteome of P. lunula. Identified proteins has been discussed above it role in the bioluminiscent process and its potential use in agrifood and/or biomedicine.N