US Patent 11788068 Modified/mutant bacterial luciferases

Modified or mutant bacterial luciferases having improved activity, as compared to wild type or unmodified bacterial luciferases, are described. The modified or mutant bacterial luciferases display increased light production and/or slower signal decay. Employing these modified or mutant bacterial luciferases improve a luminescence reporter system assay by increasing the detection sensitivity, resulting in improved bioreporter/reporter assays. The invention further provides methods for using the modified or mutant bacterial luciferases, reporter assays using the modified or mutant bacterial luciferases, and kits and articles of manufacture.