Title
Bioluminescence : Living Lights, Lights for Living / Thérèse Wilson.
ISBN
9780674068025
Published
Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2013]
Copyright
©2013
Language
English
Language Note
In English.
Description
1 online resource (176 p.) : 74 color illustrations, 3 halftones, 11 line illustrations, 6 graphs
Other Standard Identifiers
10.4159/harvard.9780674068025 doi
Call Number
QH641 .W55 2013
Dewey Decimal Classification
572/.4358
Summary
Bioluminescence is everywhere on earth-most of all in the ocean, from angler fish in the depths to the flashing of dinoflagellates at the surface. Here, Thérèse Wilson and Woody Hastings explore the natural history, evolution, and biochemistry of the diverse array of organisms that emit light. While some bacteria, mushrooms, and invertebrates, as well as fish, are bioluminescent, other vertebrates and plants are not. The sporadic distribution and paucity of luminous forms calls for explanation, as does the fact that unrelated groups evolved completely different biochemical pathways to luminescence. The authors explore the hypothesis that many different luciferase systems arose in the early evolution of life because of their ability to remove oxygen, which was toxic to life when it first appeared on earth. As oxygen became abundant and bioluminescence was no longer adequate for oxygen removal, other antioxidant mechanisms evolved and most luminous species became extinct. Those light-emitting species that avoided extinction evolved uses with survival value for the light itself. Today's luminous organisms use bioluminescence for defense from predators, for their own predatory purposes, or for communication in sexual courtship. Bioluminescence was earlier viewed as a fascinating feature of the living world, but one whose study seemed unlikely to contribute in any practical way. Today, bioluminescence is no longer an esoteric area of research. Applications are numerous, ranging from the rapid detection of microbial contamination in beef and water, to finding the location of cancer cells, to working out circuitry in the brain.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
System Details Note
Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
Digital File Characteristics
text file PDF
Source of Description
Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 30. Aug 2021)
Frontmatter
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
BIOLUMINESCENCE
INTRODUCTION
Part one: FIVE DIFFERENT BIOLUMINESCENCE SYSTEMS
Chapter one. A MARINE CRUSTACEAN
Chapter two. JELLYFISH AND GREEN FLUORESCENT PROTEIN
Chapter three. FIREFLIES AND OTHER BEETLES
Chapter four. DINOFLAGELLATES AND KRILL
Chapter five. BACTERIA
Part two. DIVERSITY, FUNCTIONS , AND EVOLUTIONARY ORIGINS OF BIOLUMINESCENCE
Chapter six. SHORT ACCOUNTS OF OTHER LUMINOUS ORGANISMS
chapter seven BIOLUMINESCENCE IN THE OCEANS
chapter eight THE MANY FUNCTIONS OF BIOLUMINESCENCE
chapter nine THE ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION OF BIOLUMINESCENCE
Part three. BOOKENDS
Chapter ten. APPLICATIONS
Chapter eleven. HOW DOES LIFE MAKE LIGHT?
GLOSSARY
FURTHER READING
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS
INDEX
