期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：1974
卷号：71
期号：12
页码：4666-4669
DOI：10.1073/pnas.71.12.4666
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：Fatty aldehydes, present in the luminescent cells of Photobacterium phosphoreum and Achromobacter fischeri, and to a very slight extent in the cells of a visually dark, "aldehydeless" mutant of the latter species, were extracted, purified, and oxidized to the corresponding acids. The acids were analyzed by mass spectrometry. The results, in conjunction with various other lines of evidence, indicate that saturated fatty aldehydes, comprising mostly dodecanal, tetradecanal, and hexadecanal, function in the bioluminescent reaction in living cells of these luminous bacteria. The amount of these aldehydes in the cells was computed to be sufficient to sustain steady-state luminescence for a period of about 1 sec, and under such conditions the rate of oxidation of the aldehydes in the process of luminescence must be balanced by their rate of production.
