Living with the Light or do you have a virus?

The Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho Temple in Bangkok, Thailand. This is a sight to behold, I must say...

It has been said that Buddha's aura shined. It has been noted that Jesus had a light around him. People who have met the Dali Lama profess there to be a glow about him. I used to sit and watch the Lightening Bugs dance in the summer night across the tops of the corn fields.

Have you ever wondered what a Bioluminescent Organism is? I know some of you have been losing sleep on that one, so I thought we could look into that a bit and alleviate the insomnia.

Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism as the result of a chemical reaction during which chemical energy is converted to light energy. Its name is a hybrid word, originating from the Greek bios for "living" and the Latin lumen "light". The chemical reaction can occur either inside or outside the cell. Bioluminescence has appeared independently several times (up to 30 or more) during evolution.

Bioluminescence occurs in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as microorganisms and terrestrial animals. Symbiotic organisms carried within larger organisms are also known to bioluminesce.

Bioluminescence is a form of luminescence, or "cold light" emission; less than 20% of the light generates thermal radiation. It should not be confused with fluorescence, phosphorescence or refraction of light.

Ninety percent of deep-sea marine life is estimated to produce bioluminescence in one form or another. Most marine light-emission belongs in the blue and green light spectrum, the wavelengths that can transmit through the seawater most easily. However, certain loose-jawed fish emit red and infrared light and the genus Tomopteris emits yellow bioluminescence.



"Bioluminescent dinoflagellates (Lingulodinium polyedrum) lighting a breaking wave at midnight. The blue light is a result of a luciferase enzyme (like firefly luciferase, but the enzyme in L. polyedrum shares no similarity with that of the firefly enzyme). Under the right conditions, the dinoflagellates become so numerous that the water takes on a muddy reddish color (hence the name "Red Tide"). The bioluminescence is only visible at night.


Non-marine bioluminescence is less widely distributed, but a larger variety in colours is seen. The two best-known forms of land bioluminescence are fireflies and glow worms. Other insects, insect larvae, annelids, arachnids and even species of fungi have been noted to possess bioluminescent abilities.

Some forms of bioluminescence are brighter (or only exist) at night, following a circadian rhythm.

Bioluminescence is used as a lure to attract prey by several deep sea fish such as the Anglerfish. A dangling appendage that extends from the head of the fish attracts small animals to within striking distance of the fish. Some fish, however, use a non-bioluminescent lure.

The cookiecutter shark uses bioluminescence for camouflage, but a small patch on its underbelly remains dark and appears as a small fish to large predatory fish like tuna and mackerel. When these fish try to consume the "small fish", they are eaten by the shark.

Dinoflagellates have an interesting twist on this mechanism. When a predator of plankton is sensed through motion in the water, the dinoflagellate luminesces. This in turn attracts even larger predators which will consume the would-be predator of the dinoflagellate.

The attraction of mates is another proposed mechanism of bioluminescent action. This is seen actively in fireflies, which use periodic flashing in their abdomens to attract mates in the mating season. In the marine environment this has only been well-documented in certain small crustaceans called ostracod. It has been suggested that pheromones may be used for long-distance communication, and bioluminescent used at close range to "home in" on the target.

Certain squid and small crustaceans use bioluminescent chemical mixtures or bioluminescent bacterial slurries in the same way as many squid use ink. A cloud of luminescence is expelled, confusing or repelling a potential predator while the squid or crustacean escapes to safety. Every species of firefly has larvae that glow to repel predators.

Bioluminescence is thought to play a direct role in communication between bacteria (see quorum sensing). It promotes the symbiotic induction of bacteria into host species, and may play a role in colony aggregation.

In bacteria, the expression of genes related to bioluminescence is controlled by an operon called the Lux operon. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is involved in most instances.

Bioluminescent organisms are a target for many areas of research. Luciferase systems are widely used in the field of genetic engineering as reporter genes. Luciferase systems have also been harnessed for biomedical research using bioluminescence imaging.

Vibrio symbiosis with numerous marine invertebrates and fish, namely the Hawaiian Bobtail Squid (Euprymna scolopes), are key experimental model for symbiosis, quorum sensing, and bioluminescence.

The structure of photophores, the light producing organs in bioluminescent organisms, are being investigated by industrial designers.

Some proposed applications of engineered bioluminescence include:

* Christmas trees that do not need lights, reducing danger from electrical fires
* glowing trees to line highways to save government electricity bills
* agricultural crops and domestic plants that luminesce when they need watering
* new methods for detecting bacterial contamination of meats and other foods
* bio-identifiers for escaped convicts and mental patients
* detecting bacterial species in suspicious corpses
* novelty pets that bioluminesce (rabbits, mice, fish etc.)

All cells produce some form of bioluminescence within the electromagnetic spectrum, but most are neither visible nor noticeable to the naked eye. Every organism's bioluminescence is unique in wavelength, duration, timing and regularity of flashes.

Could it be that enlightenment begets a rare non threatening virus that can make one glow?




This, the 232nd entry in bloggoland! Thanks for reading and coming back. I always enjoy the comments, emails and the banter!!


(c)Copyright 2009 Doug Boggs