Project Results

About This Project

Fireflies! These silent fireworks on warm summer nights fill us with wonder. But so much about these fascinating critters remains shrouded in mystery. Our team of biologists has joined forces to sequence the genome of the Big Dipper Firefly, Photinus pyralis. This project has the potential to foster important advances in bioscience and medicine, will illuminate how a complex trait like light production evolves, and will help guide future efforts to conserve disappearing firefly populations.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Fireflies’ ability to produce light, their bioluminescence, is considered their signature trait. Many fireflies use their light-producing ability for courtship communication (check out Sara Lewis’ 2014 TED talk). Since its discovery in the 1980s, the firefly luciferase gene responsible for the light-giving reaction has become widely used in agricultural and biomedical research. Although you might expect that all this flashing would make fireflies especially vulnerable to predators, fireflies have also evolved sophisticated strategies that makes their light a warning rather than a weakness. Their defense arsenal includes poisonous chemicals and bright warning coloration. But we're still in the dark because, for the most part, the genes that make all this possible remain a mystery.

What is the significance of this project?

Sequencing the firefly genome will likely yield new insights into the physiology and evolution of bioluminescence, and a detailed picture for how a complex trait like bioluminescence evolves. It will advance our understanding of how fireflies evolved their many other unique traits, such as chemical defense and the genetic basis for how these lightningbugs can so precisely control and interpret the flashes of light that are critical to their reproductive success. Lastly, firefly populations around the world are blinking out. We do know many places where fireflies are at risk from habitat loss, pesticides, and light pollution, and this project could help scientists to decipher the root causes of fireflies’ decline elsewhere. The more we know, the better equipped we’ll be to protect them.

What are the goals of the project?

Our project will sequence the genome of the Big Dipper Firefly Photinus pyralis, a quintessentially American firefly and key player in the history of bioluminescence research, using PacBio’s single-molecule real-time (SMRT) DNA sequencing technology. After sequencing and assembling the Photinus pyralis genome, our team will thoroughly annotate the information in the genome by combining well-curated bioinformatic tools with our substantial knowledge of firefly biology. Our final goal will be to make all the information we discover, including the genomic assembly, annotation, and scientific manuscripts produced by the team, available online in an easily accessible format so that professional scientists, citizen scientists, and anyone who’s just plain curious can explore and learn.