The isolation and characterization of two protein isoforms collected green fluorescent copepods is described herein. The new Pontella mimocerami GFP-like isoforms pmimGFP1 and pmimGFP2 of the present invention are quick to mature and rapidly produce a fluorescent signal. The two isoforms are very similar in molar extinction coefficients (ME) with 105,000 M−1 cm−1 for pmimGFP1 and 103,000 M−1cm−1 for pmimGFP2, respectively. The relative brightness of these two new copepod GFP-like proteins is the highest measured for any isolated GFP-like protein.Board of Regents, University of Texas Syste
