anaerobic fluorescent proteins - the evoglow^®-series

Fluorescent reporter proteins are valuable noninvasive molecular tools for in vivo real-time imaging of living cells and tissues as well as in vitro fluorescence labeling. A major drawback of existing GFP-like reporter proteins is their strict requirement for molecular oxygen as a cofactor for the synthesis of their respective chromophores. Therefore, the application in anaerobic systems is not possible (see Fig. 1).
The flavin mononucleotide (FMN)-based fluorescent proteins (FbFPs) from the evoglow® series were developed to overcome these restrictions. The evoglow® proteins can be used as fluorescent reporters in both aerobic and anaerobic biological systems.

        
Fig. 1: in vivo-fluorescence of evoglow®-proteins compared to that of conventional Yellow Fluorescent Protein (YFP).