Environment bioluminescence

The product coelenteramide is not noticeably fluorescent in aqueous solutions, but is highly fluorescent in organic solvents and also when the compound is in the hydrophobic environment of a protein. When coelenterazine is luminesced in the presence of Oplophorus luciferase, the solution after luminescence (the spent solution) is not fluorescent, presumably due to the dissociation of coelenteramide from the luciferase that provided a hydrophobic environment at the time of light emission. An analogous situation exists in the bioluminescence system of Renilla (Hori et al., 1973). 

The rate of protonation may vary according to the structure of the light-emitter and the environment around the light emitter. In the case of chemiluminescence reactions in solutions, the hydrophobicity, permittivity (dielectric constant) and protogenic nature of the solvent are important environmental factors. In the case of bioluminescence involving a luciferase or photoprotein, the protein environment surrounding the light-emitter will be a crucial factor. 

Schmidt, T. M., Kopecky, K., and Nealson, K. H. (1989). Bioluminescence of the insect pathogen Xenorhabdus luminescens. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 55 2607-2612. 

J. J. Shaw, F. Dane, D. Geiger, and J. W. Kloepper, Use of bioluminescence for detection of genetically engineered microorganisms relea.sed into the environment. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 5S 273 (1992). 

Heitzer A., Malachowsky K., Thonnard J.E., Bienkowski P.R., White D.C., Sayler G.S., Optical biosensor for environmental on-line monitoring of naphthalene and salicylate bioavailability with an immobilized bioluminescent catabolic reporter bacterium, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 1994 60 1487-1494. 

Selifonova O., Burlage R., Barkay T., Bioluminescent sensors for detection of bioavailable Hg(II) in the environment, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 1993 59 3083-3090. 

Kamlet, M. J., Doherty, R. M., Veith, G. D., Taft, R. W., Abraham, M. H. (1986) Solubility properties in polymers and biological media. 7. An analysis toxicant properties that influence inhibition of bioluminescence in Photobacterium phosphoreum (the Microtox test). Environ. Sci. Technol. 20, 690-695. 

Gustavson, K.E., Svenson, A., and Harkin, J.M. Comparison of toxicities and mechanism of action of / -alkanols in the submitochondrial particle and the Vibrio fischeri bioluminescence (Microtox ) bioassay. Environ. Toxicol. Chem., 17(10) 1917-1921, 1998. 

Elmore, E. Fitzgerald, M.P. (1990) Evaluation of the bioluminescence assays as screens for genotoxic chenticals. In Mendelsohn, M.L. Albertini, R.J., eds, Mutation and the Environment, Part D, New York, Wiley-Liss, pp. 379-387... 

Bulich, A.A., Green, M.W. and Underwood, S.R. (1992) Measurement of soil and sediment toxicity to bioluminescent bacteria when in direct contact for a fixed time period. Abstract at Water Environment Federation, 65th Annual Conference and Exposition, September 20-24, New Orleans, LA. 

Nowadays, Microtox is the most popular bioassay available that uses bioluminescent bacteria as its active element. Analysts find it a useful tool for assessing pollution in different compartments of the environment, possessing as it does both the advantages of bioindicator techniques and the precision of classic instrumental analysis. Here are some examples of its application ... 

Campbell, M., G. Bitton, B. Koopman, and J.J. Delfino. 1992. Preliminary comparison of sediment extraction procedures and exchange solvents for hydrophobic compounds based on inhibition of bioluminescence. Environ. Toxicol. Water Qual. 7 329-338. 

Layton, A.C., Muccini, M., Ghosh, M.M., and Sayler, G.S., Construction of a bioluminescent reporter strain to detect polychlorinated biphenyls, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 64, 5023-5026, 1998. 

Sticher, P., Jaspers, M.C.M., Stemmier, K., Harms, H., Zehnder, A.J.B., and Van der Meer, J.R., Development and characterization of a whole-cell bioluminescent sensor for bioavailable middle-chain alkanes in contaminated groundwater samples, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 63, 4053 1-060, 1997. 

Goicolea A, Barrio RJ, de Balugera ZG, et al. 1998. Study of the toxicity in industrial soils by the bioluminescence assay. J Environ Sci Health Part A 33(5) 863-875. 

Figure 4-11. Proposed mechanism for (a) bioluminescence and (b) chemiluminescence of the firefly [126]. (c) micro-environment mechanism [136-138, 147], and (d) our mechanism proposed in this study [131]...

Because biological and chemical variations in the upper ocean are not random, but rather interdependent phenomena often associated with specific physical events (e. g., upwelling, divergence, convergence, and stratification), correlations should exist between the occurrence of bioluminescence and other physical and chemical parameters. Our prime objective was to determine if correlations could be established between the occurrence of bioluminescence and the distribution of other oceanographic variables. Specifically, we wanted to physically characterize bioluminescence in the marine environment, determine how bioluminescence can be used to characterize planktonic communities in situ, and determine the relationships between the spatial and temporal distribution of planktonic bioluminescence with physical, chemical, and biological variables in the open ocean. 

Warne, M.S., Boyd, M.A., Meharg, E.M., Osbom, D., Killham, D., Lindon, J.C. and Nicholson, J.K. (1999a). Quantitative Stmcture-Toxicity Relationships for Halobenzenes in Two Species of Bioluminescent Bacteria, Pseudomonas fluorescens and Vibrio fischeri. Using an Atom-Centered Semi-Empirical Molecular-Orbital Based Model. SAR QSAR Environ.Res., 10, 17-38. 

APHA. 1995. Part 8050, Bacterial bioluminescence. In Standard Methods for the Determination of Water and Wastes, 19th ed. American Public Health Association, American Water Works Association, and the Water Environment Federation, Washington, D.C., pp. 8-32 to 8-33. 

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