Patent ID: 7910714

Claim:
An isolated polynucleotide encoding a variant polypeptide of the rapidly maturing Discosoma red fluorescent protein T4 (DsRed.T4) consisting of SEQ ID NO:3, wherein the variant polypeptide has reduced oligomerization relative to wild-type DsRed, and matures more rapidly than wild-type DsRed, and wherein the variant polypeptide comprises substitutions: (A) at least one amino acid substitution selected from the group consisting of K83M, K83L, K163Q, K163M, K163H, and Y193H, (B) at least three amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of E26Y, K92T, V96S, T106E, T108Q, I125K, S131A, I180V, and M182K, (C) at least three amino acid substitutions selected from the group consisting of R149K, R153Q, H162S, L174T, E176D, Y192N, R216H, H222S, L223G, and F224S, and (D) at least one amino acid substitution selected from the group consisting of V71A, C117T, S175C, S179T, S203N, and G219A.