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Naturally bioluminescent fungi

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 June 2004

WEITZ HEDDA J. WEITZ
WEITZ HEDDA J. WEITZ
Affiliation:
Department of Plant and Soil Science, School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, St. Machar Drive, Aberdeen, AB24 3UU, UK. [email protected] and The Macaulay Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, UK.
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Extract

The natural phenomenon of bioluminescence is the emission of visible light by living organisms mediated by an enzyme-catalysed (‘luciferase’) reaction of molecular oxygen with a substrate (‘luciferin’). Bioluminescent organisms are diverse and widely distributed in nature, for example bacteria, dinoflagellates, fungi and insects. The luciferases show no homology to each other and the luciferins are also chemically unrelated. Molecular oxygen is the only common feature of bioluminescence reactions, indicating that the luminescent systems in most organisms may have evolved independently (Wilson & Hastings, 1998).

Type
Original Article
Information
Mycologist , Volume 18 , Issue 1 , February 2004 , pp. 4 - 5
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

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