GFP (Green Fluorescent Protein) and YFP (Yellow Fluorescent Protein) are fluorescent proteins that are derived from the Aequorea victoria (jellyfish). Several marine entities have a somewhat similar GFP. However, GFP is the protein that was isolated originally from this specific jellyfish, while the YFP happens to be the genetic mutant of the Green Fluorescent Protein.

Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP)

• Its main feature is that when disclosed to the blue ultraviolet light, this protein shows a green fluorescence.
• It is composed of amino acids (238).
• At a wavelength of 395 nm, the GFP shows an excitation peak while the emission peak is at 509 nm wavelengths.
• The quantum yield of GFP is 0.79. The quantum yield is the number of times an event takes place when a radiation-induced activity occurs per photon.
• Applications – used in cell biology and molecular biology, utilised as a reporter of expression and as biosensors.

Yellow Fluorescent Protein (YFP)

• YFP are mutants of the derived GFP (Green Fluorescent Protein) from Aequorea Victoria (jellyfish).
• It has three improved versions – Ypet, Citrine and Venus.
• The excitation peak is at 515 nm, while its emission peak is at 527 nm.
• The YFP finds similar applications as that of GFP in the field of molecular biology.
• These are Aequorea GFP variants that give out the longest wavelengths and are generated once when the native of the GFP crystal structure is examined.

Key Differences Between GFP and YFP

The table below depicts the differences between GFP and YFP.

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