Crystal Jelly
The crystal jelly (Aequorea victoria) is a transparent hydrozoan jellyfish of the northeastern Pacific that glows green. It is the source of green fluorescent protein (GFP), one of the most widely used tools in biology.
The crystal jelly (Aequorea victoria) is a transparent hydrozoan jellyfish of the northeastern Pacific that glows green. It is the source of green fluorescent protein (GFP), one of the most widely used tools in biology.
🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Crystal Jelly in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Cnidaria+Ctenophora lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.
The Origin of GFP
In 1962 Osamu Shimomura isolated the glowing protein and a light-producing protein, aequorin, from the jellyfish at Friday Harbor in Washington. Aequorin makes blue light, and GFP absorbs it and re-emits green. Shimomura, Martin Chalfie and Roger Tsien shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for GFP.
A Cell Biology Revolution
Scientists attach the gene for GFP to genes of interest, so they can watch proteins move in living cells and track neurons or tumors in animals. Variants glow in other colors. See Caenorhabditis elegans.
The Jellyfish Itself
The bell is up to about 10 centimeters across, with a ring of glowing spots at its margin. It feeds on small plankton and other jellies.
Crystal Jelly at a Glance
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Scientific name | Aequorea victoria |
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Cnidaria |
| Class | Hydrozoa |
| Order | Leptothecata |
| Family | Aequoreidae |
| Field Guide group | Cnidaria + Ctenophora (Radiata & Jellies) |
| Diagnostic feature (Field Guide) | Clear saucer-shaped bell with about 100 radiating canals that glow green at the rim; a thin shelf of tissue (velum) lines the inside of the bell edge. |
| Class | Hydrozoa |
| Nobel connection | GFP, 2008 Chemistry |
See Also
- Caenorhabditis elegans — an early GFP model
- Gene expression — reporters of gene activity