Control of aldehyde synthesis in the luminous bacterium Beneckea harveyi

Abstract

Some of the B. harveyi dim aldehyde mutants, all of which emit light on addition of exogenous long-chain aldehyde, also emit light when myristic acid is added. Apparently, these myristic acid-responsive mutants are blocked before fatty acid formation; another class of mutants, which respond only to aldehyde, appear to be defective in the enzyme(s) involved in the conversion of acid to aldehyde. Evidence shows that this activity, designated myristic acid reductase, is coinduced with luciferase and is involved in the recycling of acid produced in the luciferase reaction, with specificity for the C14 compounds.