scintillon
A cytoplasmic light-emitting compartment of certain dinoflagellates that produces bioluminescence upon acidification in the presence of oxygen. [GO:0036007]
Part of: GO:0005737 — cytoplasm (no local record)
Components
| Component | Type | Part of / acts on | Grounding | Genes | Stoichiometry | Essential | Role |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dinoflagellate luciferase | Protein | part of | Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted) | UNKNOWN | Catalyzes light-producing oxidation of luciferin; activated by acidification.
| ||
| dinoflagellate luciferin-binding protein | Protein | part of | Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted) | UNKNOWN | Binds luciferin at higher pH and releases it on acidification in the studied organism.
| ||
| dinoflagellate luciferin | Small molecule | part of | CHEBI:61702 | UNKNOWN | Tetrapyrrole substrate stored for the light-emitting reaction; the chemical identity does not specify its in situ protonation state.
| ||
| Voltage-gated hydrogen channel 1 | Protein | part of | InterPro:IPR031846 | UNKNOWN | Scintillon-localized proton channel implicated in flash triggering by acidification.
|
Organism-specific protein examples
Named proteins in which each component's role was established, with the organism the evidence comes from. The component above is the taxon-agnostic family; these are the specific entries behind it.
dinoflagellate luciferase
| Accession | Protein | Gene | Organism | Entry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
UniProtKB:O77206 | Dinoflagellate luciferase | Lingulaulax polyedra (NCBITaxon:160621) | REVIEWED | |
Role and evidence (1 reference)
| ||||
Taxonomic distribution
NCBITaxon:2864Dinophyceae — VARIABLE: GO defines scintillons in some dinoflagellates and constrains the term to Dinophyceae. [GO:0036007]
Canonical examples
NCBITaxon:160621Lingulaulax polyedra — Studied as Lingulodinium polyedrum, formerly Gonyaulax polyedra; isolated scintillons were used for localization and flash assays. The current name was verified against NCBI Taxonomy. [DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0171594]
Functions
- bioluminescence
GO:0008218— Produces light through the oxygen-dependent luciferin reaction after acidification.DOI:10.1073/pnas.69.3.690Isolated particles flash on acidification and recover flash capacity after luciferin incubation.
Mechanism graphs
Acidification couples proton-channel opening to light emission (FUNCTION)
Mechanistic model for the studied Lingulaulax polyedra scintillon.
| Subject | Predicate | Object | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| scintillon | contains | Voltage-gated hydrogen channel 1 | |
| membrane depolarization | opens | Voltage-gated hydrogen channel 1 | |
| Voltage-gated hydrogen channel 1 | promotes | scintillon acidification | |
| dinoflagellate luciferin-binding protein | binds_at_higher_pH | dinoflagellate luciferin | |
| scintillon acidification | promotes_release_of | dinoflagellate luciferin | |
| scintillon acidification | activates | dinoflagellate luciferase | |
| dinoflagellate luciferin | supplies_substrate_for | bioluminescence | |
| dinoflagellate luciferase | catalyzes | bioluminescence |
Discussions
- CURATION_TODO (OPEN): Resolve whole-protein family identifiers for dinoflagellate luciferase and LBP. Verified UniProt mappings supply domain-level terms shared between the proteins or covering only part of luciferase. They do not identify either complete component. Assembly essentiality and cross-species conservation of the studied composition remain unasserted.
- INTERPRETATION (RESOLVED): Exclude chloroplast proteins detected in scintillon preparations. The proteomics study identifies chloroplast contamination. Rubisco and other chloroplast hits alone do not establish scintillon membership.
Evidence
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0171594Rodriguez et al. 2017: proton-channel physiology and scintillon localization.DOI:10.1073/pnas.0409335102Schultz et al. 2005: luciferase structure and pH regulation.DOI:10.1073/pnas.69.3.690Fogel and Hastings 1972: isolated scintillon flash assays; abstract read via Europe PMC.
Curation history
2026-10-03T09:19:59Zcodex · CREATED_RECORD — Scaffolded by scripts/new_record.py2026-10-03T09:21:26Zcodex · EXPANDED_RECORD — Added verified GO scintillon identity relations, four sourced components, current NCBI organism identity, bioluminescence function, scoped proton-triggered flash mechanism, and explicit grounding and contamination decisions.2026-10-03T09:37:30Zcodex · CURATED_COMPONENTS — Addressed adversarial review issue #1979: listed exact inspected LBP accessions and excluded Q39912, which resolves to luciferase O77206.