Bioluminesence Basics
This term describes the production of light through a chemical reaction within a living organism.
What is Bioluminescence?
This gas floods into photocytes when a firefly wants to produce a flash.
What is oxygen?
This type of symbiotic relationship occurs when both organisms benefit.
What is mutualism?
This term describes the ultra-weak light naturally emitted by living organisms, including humans.
What are biophotons?
Approximately this percentage of organisms living in the deep ocean possess bioluminesence.
What is 75 percent?
These specialized organs in the abdomen allow fireflies to produce and control light
What are lantern organs?
This species of bioluminescent bacteria lives inside the light organ of the Hawaiian bobtail squid.
What is Vibrio fischeri?
Human biophotons are produced as a byproduct of this process that releases energy from glucose.
What is cellular respiration?
This light-producing molecule is oxidized during the bioluminescent reaction.
What is luciferin?
This signaling molecule temporarily prevents mitochondria from using oxygen, allowing light production to begin.
What is nitric oxide (NO)?
This camouflage strategy allows the bobtail squid to match the moonlight above it and avoid detection from predators below.
What is counterillumination?
These highly reactive molecules are formed during metabolism and help generate biophotons.
What are free radicals (or reactive oxygen species)?
This enzyme catalyzes the reaction between luciferin and oxygen, allowing light to be produced.
What is luciferase?
This process allows fireflies to rapidly switch their light on and off by controlling oxygen availability.
What is oxygen gating?
As bacterial populations increase, signaling molecules accumulate and trigger light production through this process.
What is quorum sensing?
Dr. Masaki Kobayashi found that human biophoton emission follows this 24-hour biological cycle.
What is a circadian rhythm?
Bioluminescent light is often called this because very little energy is lost as heat.
What is cold light?
Male fireflies use species-specific flash patterns to increase this evolutionary measure of success.
What is reproductive success (or fitness)?
Unlike the bobtail squid, which uses bioluminescence primarily for camouflage, the anglerfish uses its glowing esca for this purpose.
What is attracting prey?
This hormone showed an inverse relationship with biophoton emission in Kobayashi's study and is involved in stress regulation and the sleep-wake cycle.
This hormone showed an inverse relationship with biophoton emission in Kobayashi's study and is involved in stress regulation and the sleep-wake cycle.