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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. [ 1 ]
L-luciferin is able to emit a weak light even though it is a competitive inhibitor of D-luciferin and the bioluminescence pathway. [13] Light is emitted because the CoA synthesis pathway can be converted to the bioluminescence reaction by hydrolyzing the final product via an esterase back to D-luciferin. [3]
The bioluminescence can be produced from compounds during the digestion of prey, from specialized mitochondrial cells in the organism called photocytes ("light producing" cells), or, similarly, associated with symbiotic bacteria in the organism that are cultured.
Bioluminescence is the emission of light during a chemiluminescence reaction by living organisms. [1] Bioluminescence occurs in diverse organisms ranging from marine vertebrates and invertebrates , as well as in some fungi , microorganisms including some bioluminescent bacteria , dinoflagellates and terrestrial arthropods such as fireflies .
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. [1]
Luminescent bacteria emit light as the result of a chemical reaction during which chemical energy is converted to light energy. Luminescent bacteria exist as symbiotic organisms carried within a larger organism, such as many deep sea organisms, including the Lantern Fish, the Angler fish, certain jellyfish, certain clams and the Gulper eel.
In firefly, oxidation of luciferins, which is catalyzed by luciferases, yields a peroxy compound 1,2-dioxetanone. [1] The dioxetanone is unstable and via the release of carbon dioxide and excited ketones, which release excess energy by emitting light (bioluminescence). [16]
A photocyte is a cell that specializes in catalyzing enzymes to produce light (bioluminescence). [1] Photocytes typically occur in select layers of epithelial tissue, functioning singly or in a group, or as part of a larger apparatus (a photophore). They contain special structures called photocyte granules.