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BIOLUMINESCENCE (Glowing Organisms).pptx
- 1. JIWAJI UNIVERSITY, GWALIOR SCHOOLOF STUDIES IN ZOOLOGY TOPIC:- BIOLUMINESCENCE (Glowing Organisms) SUBMITTED TO:- HEAD OF DEPARTMENT SOS IN ZOOLOGY SUBMITTED BY:- HARDEEPAK SINGH MSC 3 SEMESTER rd
- 2. SYNOPSIS • Introduction • Whatis Bioluminescence ? • How it Works ? • Some Bioluminescent Organisms • Why they do it ? • Significances in Research • Conclusion • References
- 3. INTRODUCTION • The firefliesproduce light through a chemical reaction in their glowing abdomens a process known as bioluminescence. Some fish dangle a lighted lure in front of their mouths to attract prey, while some squid shoot out bioluminescent liquid, instead of ink, to confuse their predators. Worms and tiny crustaceans also use bioluminescence to attract mates. • Bioluminescent organisms live throughout the water column from the surface to the seafloor from near the coast to the open ocean. In the deep sea bioluminescence is extremely common and because the deep sea is so vast bioluminescence may be the most common form of communication on the planet !
- 4. WHAT IS BIOLUMINESCENCE? Bioluminescence is defined as the emission of light from a living organism that functions for its survival or propagation. It is a cold light resulting from a specific biochemical mechanism involving chemical processes often specific for that organism either within certain cells or organs or outside the cells in some form of excretion. Produced by the compound luciferin and the enzyme luciferase. Bioluminescent organisms occur mostly in the marine environment. Bioluminescence can be thought of as a chemiluminescence that is catalyzed by an enzyme. This light emission from an organism needs to be distinguished from other forms of luminescence many also having biological function, fluorescence, iridescence, diffraction etc.
- 5. HOW BIOLUMINESCENCE WORKS? All bioluminescence reactions involve an oxygen oxidation of an organic molecule called the luciferin (protein like light producing substance). The reaction is catalyzed by an enzyme called a luciferase and in many cases the bioluminescence intensity is assumed to reflect the velocity of the enzyme-substrate reaction found not to involve oxygen kinetically and these proteins were labeled “ photoproteins ". Reaction Schemes for a luciferin / luciferase reaction (A), and for a typical photoprotein reaction triggered by calcium (B). The reaction product is the light (hv) emitting species, the protein-bound oxyluciferin or protein-bound coelenteramide.
- 6. SOME BIOLUMINESCENT ORGANISMS Jellyfishspecies more than half of all produce some kind of bioluminescence, largely as a deterrent to predators. Some even secrete lambent mucus to further confuse potential executioners. Aequorea victoria the jellyfish produces a green glow around the rim of its bell by passing its initially blue light through a compound known as Green fluorescent protein (GFP). Deep-sea squid spurt glowing ink or mucus to confuse their predators. The bobtail squid possess small cavities on the underside of its body that are home to bioluminescent bacteria. When it emerges from the sand at night the openings of the cavities expand and contract in response to the amount of moonlight penetrating the waves above so that its silhouette is less visible to predators lurking below.
- 7. Deep-sea angler fishestempt their prey with glowing baubles dangling from rods in front of their mouths. Other fish combing the murk for food are attracted to the fleshy lanterns and when they approach are inhaled by the beast at the other end. The males of some anglers are miniscule in comparison to the females. Once they find a suitable undine with whom to couple in an inversion of the misogynistic “ball and chain” relationship idiom they attach themselves to her body which eventually absorbs all but their testicles. Lantern fishes has a unique pattern of light-generating photophores used in signaling and mating. The photophores consist of lens-shaped transparent scales covering the tissue that emanates light these lenses help to focus and amplify the light. Recent research has shown that lantern fishes are diversifying more rapidly than bristlemouths another bioluminescent deep sea species. Unlike lanternfishes , bristlemouths only use their bioluminescence as a camouflage mechanism.
- 8. Fire fly Oneof the most familiar bioluminescent organisms is the firefly. Fireflies light up to attract mates. Although both male and female fireflies are bioluminescent most flashing fireflies in North America are male . The pattern of their flashes tells nearby females what species of firefly they are and that they're interested in mating. The females of some species mimic the light signals of other species luring the males to the ground and devouring them. Brittle star can detach body parts to distract predators. The predator follows the glowing arm of the brittle star while the rest of the animal crawls away in the dark. (Brittle stars, like all sea stars, can re-grow their arms.) Bioluminescent bacteria are light-producing bacteria. The host organisms provide these bacteria a safe home and sufficient nutrition and the hosts use the light produced by the bacteria for camouflage, prey and mate attraction. They evolved symbiotic relationships in which both participants benefit close to equally. Another possible reason bacteria use luminescence reaction is for quorum sensing an ability to regulate gene expression in response to bacterial cell density.
- 9. WHY THEY DOIT ? • Defence • Schooling of fish • Luminous lure • Feeding • Attracting prey • Communication • Mating • Camouflage As a result of its prevalence, bioluminescence plays an important role in the ecology of the ocean. The function of bioluminescence in the oceans is more clearly understood in the context of the essentially dark environment below about 200m . These are the reasons why they do it :-
- 10. ITS SIGNIFICANCE INRESEARCH • The luminescent reaction of the firefly has been used as an assay method for the determination of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) an important metabolic substance used by all living cells in numerous reactions in which energy is either stored or expended. The glow of a specially blended extract of firefly lanterns eventually dims and disappears as ATP is broken down. The addition of fresh ATP either as a pure chemical or as a constituent of a tissue extract immediately restores the luminescence. The intensity of the glow is a direct measure of the amount of ATP present in the extract. That assay method has been widely used in medical and biological research to determine the amount of ATP present in extracts of cells and tissues. The study of reactions involving ATP has led to a detailed understanding of the mechanisms of energy conversion in cells. The firefly reaction is one of the few reactions in which ATP is directly involved with light emission. All other bioluminescent reactions involve compounds that are chemically distinct from ATP.
- 11. CONCLUSION • The fieldof research in Chemical Bioluminescence is still widely unknown Bioluminescence has the potential to be the next renewable energy resource and an environmentally friendly warfare weapon. Molecules of bioluminescence have proved significantly important in the medical and chemistry fields (2008 Nobel peace prize). In terms of impact on cell biology, genetic engineering, and chemistry advancement. Although bioluminescence is common there are still many unknown aspects of this phenomenon to be discovered. • Animals have lots of methods for producing and using light in ways like attracting a mate, attracting prey, deterring predators, and in hunting and with that humans are beginning to understand the significance of bioluminescence. • Scientists have only begun to further discover and implement useful tools that can be used in curing and tracing the path of disease, in analyzing cellular dynamics, and to continue to improve the inexplicable quality of human life and is a conclusion yet to be found by scientists.
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