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Bioluminescence in fish began at least by the Cretaceous period. About 1,500 fish species are known to be bioluminescent; the capability evolved independently at least 27 times. Of these, 17 involved the taking up of bioluminous bacteria from the surrounding water while in the others, the intrinsic light evolved through chemical synthesis.
Noctiluca scintillans, a bioluminescent dinoflagellate. Bioluminescence is the production of light by living organisms. This list of bioluminescent organisms is organized by the environment, covering terrestrial, marine, and microorganisms.
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]
Firefly luciferase bioluminescence color can vary between yellow-green (λ max = 550 nm) to red (λ max = 620). [6] There are currently several different mechanisms describing how the structure of luciferase affects the emission spectrum of the photon and effectively the color of light emitted.
Foxfire, also called fairy fire and chimpanzee fire, [1] is the bioluminescence created by some species of fungi present in decaying wood. The bluish-green glow is attributed to a luciferase, an oxidative enzyme, which emits light as it reacts with a luciferin. The phenomenon has been known since ancient times, with its source determined in 1823.
Counter-illumination differs from countershading, also used by many marine animals, which uses pigments to darken the upper side of the body while the underside is as light as possible with pigment, namely white. Countershading fails when the light falling on the animal's underside is too weak to make it appear roughly as bright as the background.
[9] [3] Photomultiplier tubes have been used to measure biophoton emissions from fish eggs, [10] and some applications have measured biophotons from animals and humans. [ 11 ] [ 12 ] [ 13 ] Electron Multiplying CCD (EM-CCD) optimized for the detection of ultraweak light [ 14 ] have also been used to detect the bioluminescence produced by yeast ...
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 ]