This family includes fungal luciferase which is part of the gene cluster that mediates the fungal bioluminescence cycle [1]. It may use the fungal luciferin 3-hydroxyhispidin as a substrate to produce an endoperoxide as a high-energy intermediate with decomposition that yields oxyluciferin (also known as caffeoylpyruvate) and light emission. The fungal bioluminescence cycle begins with the hispidin synthetase that catalyses the formation of hispidin which is further hydroxylated by the hispidin-3-hydroxylase, yielding the fungal luciferin 3-hydroxyhispidin. The luciferase then produces an endoperoxide as a high-energy intermediate with decomposition that yields oxyluciferin and light emission. Oxyluciferin can be recycled to caffeic acid by caffeoylpyruvate hydrolase [1]. This entry also includes uncharacterised bacterial sequences.

1: Genetically encodable bioluminescent system from fungi. Kotlobay AA, Sarkisyan KS, Mokrushina YA, Marcet-Houben M, Serebrovskaya EO, Markina NM, Gonzalez Somermeyer L, Gorokhovatsky AY, Vvedensky A, Purtov KV, Petushkov VN, Rodionova NS, Chepurnyh TV, Fakhranurova LI, Guglya EB, Ziganshin R, Tsarkova AS, Kaskova ZM, Shender V, Abakumov M, Abakumova TO, Povolotskaya IS, Eroshkin FM, Zaraisky AG, Mishin AS, Dolgov SV, Mitiouchkina TY, Kopantzev EP, Waldenmaier HE, Oliveira AG, Oba Y, Barsova E, Bogdanova EA, Gabaldon T, Stevani CV, Lukyanov S, Smirnov IV, Gitelson JI, Kondrashov FA, Yampolsky IV; Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018;115:12728-12732. PMID:30478037