Firefly Luciferase as a Reporter for Plant Gene Expression Studies

Reporter enzymes often are used to monitor gene expression. Several reporter gene systems have been developed which differ in ease of use, cost, sensitivity, versatility and safety. We have used luciferase from the North American firefly Photinus pyralis extensively as a reporter in studies of plant gene expression. We found that luciferase has several features that make it a particularly attractive reporter when compared to the frequently used CAT, GUS and neo genes. In this article, we review some of these characteristics and present expression plasmids and assay procedures optimized for use with plant suspension culture cells.