Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 30, 2026

Bioluminescent Bacterial Imaging In Vivo
Published on: November 4, 2012
[Mechanisms and Origin of Bacterial Biolumenescence]
G B Zavilgelsky1,2, R S Shakulov1
1State Research Institute of Genetics and Selection of Industrial Microorganisms, National Research Center "Kurchatov Institute", Moscow, 117545 Russia.
Abstract:
The origin of bioluminescence in living organisms was first mentioned by Charles Darwin (1859) and remains obscure despite significant success achieved over the past decades. Here we discuss the mechanisms of bacterial bioluminescence. We have the main results from structural and functional analysis of the genes of lux operons, enzymes (luciferase), and mechanisms of bioluminescence in several species of marine bacteria, which belong to three genera, Vibrio, Aliivibrio, and Photobacterium (A. fischeri, V. harveyi, P. leiognathi, and P. phosphoreum), and in terrestrial bacteria of the genus Photorhabdus (Ph. luminescens). The structure and mechanisms for the regulation of the expression of the lux operons are discussed. The fundamental characteristics of luciferase and luciferase-catalyzed reactions (stages of FMNH2 and tetradecanal oxidation, dimensional structure, as well as folding and refolding of the macromolecule) are described. We also discuss the main concepts of the origin of bacterial bioluminescence and its role in the ecology of modern marine fauna, including its involvement in the processes of detoxification of the reactive oxygen species and DNA repair, as well as the bait hypothesis.
Related Concept Videos
Bacterial Signaling
Cancers Originate from Somatic Mutations in a Single Cell
Bacterial Transformation
Griffith made an unexpected discovery when he killed the pathogenic strain and mixed its remains with the live, non-pathogenic strain. Not only did the mixture kill host mice, but it also contained living pathogenic bacteria that...
Reaction Mechanisms
For instance, the decomposition of ozone appears to follow a mechanism with two steps:
Mechanical Protein Functions
Bacterial RNA Polymerase
In most genes, the transcription site is a single base present upstream of the coding sequence. Though RNAP is a catalytically efficient enzyme, it does not recognize...

