Photinus pyralis luciferase: vectors that contain a modified luc coding sequence allowing convenient transfer into other systems.

The coding sequence of the Photinus pyralis luciferase (Luc), as contained in the previously described expression vector, pUHC13-1, was modified such that several commonly used restriction sites in the luc gene were removed without changing the primary sequence of the protein. In addition, a Kozak sequence upstream from the ATG start codon was introduced. The resulting plasmid, pUHC131-1, produced increased amounts of Luc activity in HeLa and NIH3T3 cells. The modified luc gene was inserted in both orientations into the multiple cloning site of a commonly used cloning vector. This facilitates transfer of luc into other expression units.