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Defined : the emission of light as a result of a chemical reaction during which chemical energy is converted into light energy
From a living organism that functions for its survival or mating
Comes from Greek word “bios” for ‘living’ and Latin word
“lumen” for ‘light’, so it literally means living light
“Cold light” resulting from a specific biochemical mechanism involving chemical processes
Specific for that organism
Found all over biosphere, phosphorescence in sea water observed in all oceans
Bioluminescence of visible light is found in a majority of marine organisms but is rare in terrestrial organism

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All involve an oxygen oxidation of organic molecule
(luciferin)
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Catalyzed by an enzyme called luciferase
These proteins are called “photoproteins” -> oxygen is already bound to the luciferin
A photoprotein is a protein with a luciferin bound to it
“Antenna proteins” -> adjust the colour of bioluminescence likeness to proteins on similar function in photosynthesis except they act in reverse
5 known distinct chemical classes of luciferins:
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Aldehydes, benzothiazoles, imidazolopyrazines, tetrapyrroles and flavins
Key organ -> photophore (light producing organ)
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Seen in many luminous fish and vividly in cephalopods
Make up of complex photogenic (light emitting) cells
Bioluminescent reaction components detected in stomach, secretory organs and liver of some organisms

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Bioluminescence: light is created through a chemical reaction. Bioluminescence is a subset of chemiluminescence
Fluorescence: a particular atom or molecule absorbs light of one length, but emits one of a longer length. The light going in is usually UV photons, and comes out as visible light
Phosphorescence: requires more time to remit radiation absorbed than fluorescence. This is because the sub atomic reactions required to remit light occur less often than in fluorescence.
Fluorescence

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Stories of mysterious light or fires seen over fields or mountains were often said to be dragons or the gods
Greeks and romans first to report luminous organisms
Reports of fireflies found in early religious writing of India and
China
Earlier recordings believed to have come from these and ancient eastern civilizations and refered to firelies and glow worms
Aristotle (384-322BC) (first to discover) decribed more than 180 marine species, first to recognize “cold light”
Later, complete and extensive descriptions of luminous organisms published by Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE)
16 th century references to bioluminescence found in literature such as Shakespeare, specifically in hamlet who talked about “effectual fire of the glow worm”
First book devoted to bioluminescence and chemiluminescence published in 1555 by Conrad Gesner
1667 – Robert Boyle documented oxygen was needed for luminescence

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Raphael Dubois performed experiment, he extracted the two key components of bioluminescence reaction and was able to create light and that there 2 key components= “luciferine” and heat labile “luciferase”*
One of most eminent scientists of 20 th century was
“Princeton Professor” E. Newton Harvey*
He was looking for existence of lucifernin- luciferase system in all luminous organisms
First luciferin isolated in 1956
First photo protein isolated was the calcium activated photoprotien aequorin in the 1960’s

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Calcium dependant photoprotein cloned in 1985
 Intensity of luminescence varies with calcium concentration
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Therefore aequorin has been used in monitoring of cell calcium
1985 firefly luciferase was cloned
Tomopteris
Firefly
Luciferin chemical structure

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All colours of the visible light spectrum; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet
Different colours dependant on role the light plays and which organism it is produced in
Many only produce one colour, however some are capable of many colours
 Eg. Jamaican click beetle; this is due to the same luciferin substrate as the firefly, but different luciferase structures
Bioluminescence releases a large amount of energy, not heat
Visible light radiation is equal to light wavelengths of 400-
700 nm
Bioluminescence max of most marine species is 460-510 nm
Terrestrial organisms mostly yellow-green BL, more yellow
Marine mostly blue-green (400-500nm) luminescence because it travels the best through water

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Plays an important role in nature due to the darkness 200m underwater
Location on body of bioluminescence gives clues to the functional role of the luminescence
Attracting a mate
 Eg. The wave lengths attract mates, but do not draw attention to themselves
Attracting prey
 Eg. Angler fish has a luminescent lure
Finding food
 eg. Loose jaw fish, bioluminescent organs in cheeks to see in dark water
Communication
 eg. Fireflies flash certain patterns to either attract mates or communicate
Camouflage
 eg. Bobtail squid blends into background
Defense against predators
 eg. Deep sea shrip vomits bioluminescent material in direction of attacker
Deep- sea shrimp vomits bioluminescent material

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R OBERT B OYLE
British philosopher and scientist
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In 1667 performed experiment and found that bioluminescence didn’t occur when a known bioluminescent type of fungus was not in the presence of air
1672 he discovers that bioluminescence reactions require air, when he later discovered oxygen, we realize is the oxygen component of air that is needed
Robert Boyle
Oxygen Atom

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R APHAEL D UBOIS
1887 he discovered luciferin and luciferase through experiments with clams, beetles, and other species
Raphael Dubois
He did an experiment using a clam called the common paddock
Ground tissue of the clam up in cold water, and light was produced for several minutes. This showed he has extracted the light producing chemical
Then made a hot water extract from another clam and added it to the cold water, which reactivated the light reaction
A hot water extraction alone produced no light reaction
Called the hot water extraction luciferin
Called cold water extraction luciferase
Noted that luciferin could only glow in the presence of luciferase

E DMUND N EWTON H ARVEY
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Greatly popularized the study of bioluminescence
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Discovered that luciferins and luciferase from different animals are not interchangeable
Evidence of evolution of bioluminescence to fit various needs of different species
Now shown that evolution of bioluminescent systems has occurred over 30 times, which accounts for the differences in colours and uses in different species
Humpback Angler
Fish
Jamaican Click Beetle

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The discovery and study on bioluminescent organisms is the goal of many expeditions of ocean going research vessels and marine submersibles
C OMMERCIAL A PPLICATIONS
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Glowing trees to save electricity bills
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Agricultural crops that luminesce when in need of water
Detection of bacteria in contaminated foods
Novelty pets
Bio-indentifies for convicts, mentally ill
Glowing toys, glowing greeting cards
Luminescent beer and champange
“Glofish”

M EDICAL A PPLICATIONS
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Reporter genes
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Bioluminescent Imaging*
In vivo analysis
Detection of bacteria
Observations of protein to protein interacting
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Testing for genetically modified organisms*
Water quality testing*
Green Florescent Protein*

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Used on small animals
Real time monitoring of the progression of infections in the same animal
Typically 2D imagery, with lower resolution
Can mark progress at different time points without euthanizing the animal, uses animals mice than conventional methods of progress tracking
Quicker and relatively inexpensive
Allowed specific molecular and cellular events such as cell migration and signal transduction to be investigated in a living, intact animal

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Bioluminescence is decreased by pigmentation of organs such and liver, spleen and the fur
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To get around this they can shave the mice or use ones with the albino gene
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Used to study bacteria distribution, distinguish between more and less virulent
 strains and moniter antibiotic therapy
Also used to study viruses, but because of low resolution, it can be difficult to distinguish between viral infections in adjacent tissues
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Used to investigate parasite infections
 High correlation between light intensity and amount of parasites in spleen
Mouse and BLI

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For water quality/ toxicity testing
Vibrio Fischeri
Uses the bioluminescent marine bacteria ‘vibrio fischeri’
When the organism is challenged by a toxin, its breathing pathway is disrupted, resulted in decreased bioluminescence intensity
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Now a well established and excelled genetag and protein
It can be fused to a protein of interest and fluorescence and can be tracked within a cell to study its localization and behavior
Outstanding structural stability
Excellent for studying the cell and sub cellular processes
Cloned in 1992, expressed in various organism in 1994

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People want to know, “Does this food contain genetically modified organisms?” and they have the right to know
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO): genetic material (DNA or RNA) that has been altered in ways that would not occur under natural conditions or natural processes
Most common technique used to test for GMOS is polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
PCR requires complex DNA extraction techniques, rapid thermocycling, expensive equipment, and is a lengthy process
Company called Lumora came up with a breakthrough technology to test for GMO
It’s a combination of 2 technologies; Bioluminescence and isothermal DNA amplification
Bioluminescence used is bioluminescence real time reporter
(BART)
Organic food symbol

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Loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)
BART uses luciferase and detects DNA and It lights up when it find specific DNA and RNA sequences linked to genetic modifications
GMO testing can be done out in the field or in a food processing center
LAMP-BART technique requires only basic equipment for DNA extraction, a constant temperature and simple light detection
Quicker than PCR
Good for farmers to have a cheap, reliable way to test products for
GMO’s
Lumora’s GMO detector can also be used to test for things like salmonella in foods

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What are the biological advantage of light emission to the animal?
Evolution history?
Metabolic/ dietary source of the luciferins?
What are the control mechanisms for light flashing?
Discovering- luminous mollusc, a roman delicacy, the bioluminescence mechanism of it is still not completely solved

• Deep-sea Shrimp http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/12/20/science/20JPBIO1_SPAN.html
• Chemical equations and fluorescence animations: http://www.lifesci.ucsb.edu/~biolum/chem/
• Tomopteris http://discovermagazine.com/photos/1-8-marine-creatures-that-light-up-the-sea
• Chemical Structure drawing of Luciferin http://www.biotium.com/product/applications/Enzyme_substrates/price_and_info.asp?item=10100&layer1=D;&layer2=D01 ;
• Robert Boyle http://www.friedpost.com/sciencetech/greatest-science-discoveris-boyle%E2%80%99s-law-1977.html
• Raphael Dubois http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Raphael_Dubois_(1849-1929).jpg
• Oxygen Atom http://www.historyforkids.org/scienceforkids/chemistry/atoms/oxygen.htm
• Bioluminescent Imaging mouse http://www.caliperls.com/products/preclinical-imaging/?gclid=CMiigb2T_q8CFWwDQAodmVZCzg
• Glofish http://fish-blog.co.uk/News/manufacturer_supports_glofish_industry/
• Vibrio Fischeri http://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Vibrio_fischeri
• Bioluminescent Imaging mouse http://www.caliperls.com/products/preclinical-imaging/?gclid=CMiigb2T_q8CFWwDQAodmVZCzg
• Organic food stamp http://www.google.ca/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1366&bih=569&tbm=isch&tbnid=pcYC93zfdGquhM:&imgrefurl=http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/e nglish/crops/organic/certification.htm&docid=MuinqDkP2Ld1-
M&imgurl=http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/organic/certificationf10.jpg&w=600&h=616&ei=JSGwT6XnFarE6QG1rqCvCQ&zoom=1
• Humpback Angler Fish http://written-4u.blogspot.ca/2007/01/allah-creator-sustainer-surely-it-is.html
• Jamaican Click Beetle http://www.asknature.org/media/image/6970

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Beecher, C. (2012, May 7). Breakthrough Offers Promise of Improved GMO Testing. In Food Safety News.
Retrieved May 9, 2012, from http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/05/breakthrough-offers-promise-of-improvedgmo-testing/
Binger, J. M. (2007, March 14). Bioluminescence. In Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology. Retrieved
May 6, 2012, from cbst.ucdavis.edu/education/courses/spring-2007./bingerfinaldraft.doc
Hutchens, M., & Luker, G. D. (2007, June 24). Applications of bioluminescence imaging to the study of infectious diseases. Retrieved May 7, 2012, from Wiley Online Library (10.1111/j.1462-5822.2007.00995.x).
John, L. (08). Basic Bioluminescence. In Photobiological Sciences Online. Retrieved May 7, 2012, from http://www.photobiology.info/LeeBasicBiolum.html
Lee, J. (08). A History of Bioluminescence. In Photobiological Sciences Online. Retrieved May 6, 2012, from http://www.photobiology.info/HistBiolum.html
Lumora welcomes expressions of interest for GMO test commercialisation after BART technology demonstrates ability to detect genetically modified contamination of crops rapidly and at very low levels o. (2012, April 30). In
Lumora . Retrieved May 9, 2012, from http://79.170.44.87/lumora.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=100:lumora-welcomesexpressions-of-interest-for-gmo-test-commercialisation-after-bart-technology-demonstrates-ability-to-d