Fenne Marjolein Dijkema: Out with a flash: Inactivation mechanism, structure and kinetics of copepod luciferases with gaussia luciferase as a representative example Date: 30-06-2023    Supervisor: Jakob Rahr Winther & Kaare Teilum

Copepod luciferases are popular for use as reporter enzymes due to their small size and bright light. I determined the structure of the luciferase from Gaussia princeps, which is remarkably flexible. During its luminescence reaction, it inactivates irreversibly, which I showed to be due to a quinoid adduct formation in combination with the formation of multiple oxidations. This information is vital for the use of these luciferases as reporters.