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Bioluminescence
Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some bioluminescent bacteria, and terrestrial arthropods such as fireflies. In some animals, the light is bacteriogenic, produced by symbiotic bacteria such as those from the genus '' Vibrio''; in others, it is autogenic, produced by the animals themselves. In a general sense, the principal chemical reaction in bioluminescence involves a light-emitting molecule and an enzyme, generally called luciferin and luciferase, respectively. Because these are generic names, luciferins and luciferases are often distinguished by the species or group, e.g. firefly luciferin. In all characterized cases, the enzyme catalyzes the oxidation of the luciferin. In some species, the luciferase requires other cofactors, such as calcium or magnesium ions, and so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bioluminescent Beetle Elateroidea (video)
Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some Fungus, fungi, microorganisms including some bioluminescent bacteria, and terrestrial arthropods such as Firefly, fireflies. In some animals, the light is bacteriogenic, produced by symbiosis, symbiotic bacteria such as those from the genus ''Vibrio''; in others, it is autogenic, produced by the animals themselves. In a general sense, the principal chemical reaction in bioluminescence involves a light-emitting molecule and an enzyme, generally called luciferin and luciferase, respectively. Because these are generic names, luciferins and luciferases are often distinguished by the species or group, e.g. firefly luciferin. In all characterized cases, the enzyme Catalysis, catalyzes the Redox, oxidation of the luciferin. In some species, the luciferase requires other Cofactor (bio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bioluminescent Bacteria
Bioluminescent bacteria are light-producing bacteria that are predominantly present in sea water, marine sediments, the surface of decomposing fish and in the gut of marine animals. While not as common, bacterial bioluminescence is also found in terrestrial and freshwater bacteria. These bacteria may be free living (such as ''Vibrio harveyi'') or in symbiosis with animals such as the Hawaiian Bobtail squid (''Aliivibrio fischeri'') or terrestrial nematodes (''Photorhabdus luminescens''). The host organisms provide these bacteria a safe home and sufficient nutrition. In exchange, the hosts use the light produced by the bacteria for camouflage, prey and/or mate attraction. Bioluminescent bacteria have evolved symbiotic relationships with other organisms in which both participants benefit close to equally. Another possible reason bacteria use luminescence reaction is for quorum sensing, an ability to regulate gene expression in response to bacterial cell density. History Records o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luciferase
Luciferase is a generic term for the class of oxidative enzymes that produce bioluminescence, and is usually distinguished from a photoprotein. The name was first used by Raphaël Dubois who invented the words '' luciferin'' and ''luciferase'', for the substrate and enzyme, respectively. Both words are derived from the Latin word ''lucifer'', meaning "lightbearer", which in turn is derived from the Latin words for "light" (''lux)'' and "to bring or carry" (''ferre)''.Luciferases are widely used in biotechnology, for bioluminescence imaging microscopy and as reporter genes, for many of the same applications as fluorescent proteins. However, unlike fluorescent proteins, luciferases do not require an external light source, but do require addition of luciferin, the consumable substrate. Examples A variety of organisms regulate their light production using different luciferases in a variety of light-emitting reactions. The majority of studied luciferases have been found in an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Firefly
The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production of light, mainly during twilight, to attract mates. Light production in the Lampyridae is thought to have originated as an honest warning signal that the larvae were distasteful; this was co-opted in evolution as a mating signal in the adults. In a further development, female fireflies of the genus '' Photuris'' mimic the flash pattern of '' Photinus'' species to trap their males as prey. Fireflies are found in temperate and tropical climates. Many live in marshes or in wet, wooded areas where their larvae have abundant sources of food. While all known fireflies glow as larvae, only some species produce light in their adult stage, and the location of the light organ varies among species and between sexes of the same species. Fireflies ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luciferin
Luciferin (from the Latin ''lucifer'', "light-bearer") is a generic term for the light-emitting compound found in organisms that generate bioluminescence. Luciferins typically undergo an enzyme-catalyzed reaction with molecular oxygen. The resulting transformation, which usually involves splitting off a molecular fragment, produces an excited state intermediate that emits light upon decaying to its ground state. The term may refer to molecules that are substrates for both luciferases and photoproteins. Types Luciferins are a class of small-molecule substrates that react with oxygen in the presence of a luciferase (an enzyme) to release energy in the form of light. It is not known just how many types of luciferins there are, but some of the better-studied compounds are listed below. Because of the chemical diversity of luciferins, there is no clear unifying mechanism of action, except that all require molecular oxygen, The variety of luciferins and luciferases, their diverse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chemiluminescence
Chemiluminescence (also chemoluminescence) is the emission of light (luminescence) as the result of a chemical reaction. There may also be limited emission of heat. Given reactants A and B, with an excited intermediate ◊, : + -> lozenge -> roducts+ light For example, if is luminol and is hydrogen peroxide in the presence of a suitable catalyst we have: :\underset + \underset -> 3-APAlozenge-> + light where: * 3-APA is 3-aminophthalate * 3-APA ''◊is the vibronic excited state fluorescing as it decays to a lower energy level. General description The decay of this excited state ''◊to a lower energy level causes light emission. In theory, one photon of light should be given off for each molecule of reactant. This is equivalent to the Avogadro number of photons per mole of reactant. In actual practice, non-enzymatic reactions seldom exceed 1% QC, quantum efficiency. In a chemical reaction, reactants collide to form a transition state, the enthalpic maximum in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coelenterazine
Coelenterazine is a luciferin, a molecule that emits light after reaction with oxygen, found in many aquatic organisms across eight phyla. It is the substrate of many luciferases such as '' Renilla reniformis'' luciferase (Rluc), ''Gaussia'' luciferase (Gluc), and photoproteins, including aequorin, and obelin. All these proteins catalyze the oxidation of this substance, a reaction catalogued EC 1.13.12.5. History Coelenterazine was simultaneously isolated and characterized by two groups studying the luminescent organisms sea pansy (''Renilla reniformis'') and the cnidarian ''Aequorea victoria'', respectively. Both groups independently discovered that the same compound was used in both luminescent systems. The molecule was named after the now-obsolete phylum coelenterata. Likewise, the two main metabolites – coelenteramide and coelenteramine – were named after their respective functional groups. While coelenterazine was first discovered in ''Aequorea victoria'', it was later ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Firefly Luciferin
Firefly luciferin (also known as beetle luciferin) is the luciferin, or light-emitting compound, used for the firefly (Lampyridae), railroad worm ( Phengodidae), starworm ( Rhagophthalmidae), and click-beetle (Pyrophorini) bioluminescent systems. It is the substrate of luciferase ( EC 1.13.12.7), which is responsible for the characteristic yellow light emission from many firefly species. As with all other luciferins, oxygen is required to elicit light; however, it has also been found adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and magnesium are required for light emission. History Much of the early work on the chemistry of the firefly luminescence was done in the lab of William D. McElroy at Johns Hopkins University. The luciferin was first isolated and purified in 1949, though it would be several years until a procedure was developed to crystallize the compound in high yield. This, along with the synthesis and structure elucidation, was accomplished by Dr. Emil H. White at the Johns Hopkins ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Light
Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 terahertz, between the infrared (with longer wavelengths) and the ultraviolet (with shorter wavelengths). In physics, the term "light" may refer more broadly to electromagnetic radiation of any wavelength, whether visible or not. In this sense, gamma rays, X-rays, microwaves and radio waves are also light. The primary properties of light are intensity, propagation direction, frequency or wavelength spectrum and polarization. Its speed in a vacuum, 299 792 458 metres a second (m/s), is one of the fundamental constants of nature. Like all types of electromagnetic radiation, visible light propagates by massless elementary particles called photons that represents the quanta of electromagnetic field, and can be analyzed as both waves an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fungus
A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from the other eukaryotic kingdoms, which by one traditional classification include Plantae, Animalia, Protozoa, and Chromista. A characteristic that places fungi in a different kingdom from plants, bacteria, and some protists is chitin in their cell walls. Fungi, like animals, are heterotrophs; they acquire their food by absorbing dissolved molecules, typically by secreting digestive enzymes into their environment. Fungi do not photosynthesize. Growth is their means of mobility, except for spores (a few of which are flagellated), which may travel through the air or water. Fungi are the principal decomposers in ecological systems. These and other differences place fungi in a single group of related organisms, named the ''Eumycota'' (''tru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lampyris Noctiluca
''Lampyris noctiluca'', the common glow-worm of Europe (see also " glowworm"), is the type species of beetle in the genus ''Lampyris'' and the family Lampyridae. ''Lampyris noctiluca'' presents a conspicuous sexual dimorphism. The males are winged, with brown elytra, a clearer pronotum and a large brown spot in the middle, while females are larviforme, wings are missing and they are often twice the size of the males (up to in length). These beetles use their bioluminescence to attract mates. The adult females are mostly famed for their glow, although all stages of their life cycle are capable of glowing. In Britain, this species is fairly common compared to its cousin '' Phosphaenus hemipterus'' – the lesser glow worm – which is very rare. Distribution The range of this beetle stretches from Portugal and Ireland in the west, right across Europe, Africa and Asia to China in the east. It also survives further north than any other firefly, almost reaching the Arctic Circle. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vibrio
''Vibrio'' is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria, possessing a curved-rod (comma) shape, several species of which can cause foodborne infection, usually associated with eating undercooked seafood. Being highly salt tolerant and unable to survive in fresh water, ''Vibrio'' spp. are commonly found in various salt water environments. ''Vibrio'' spp. are facultative anaerobes that test positive for oxidase and do not form spores. All members of the genus are motile. They are able to have polar or lateral flagellum with or without sheaths. ''Vibrio'' species typically possess two chromosomes, which is unusual for bacteria. Each chromosome has a distinct and independent origin of replication, and are conserved together over time in the genus. Recent phylogenies have been constructed based on a suite of genes (multilocus sequence analysis). O. F. Müller (1773, 1786) described eight species of the genus ''Vibrio'' (included in Infusoria), three of which were spirilliforms. Some of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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