Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by living organisms.
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16 Facts About Bioluminescence
2.
Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some bioluminescent bacteria, and terrestrial arthropods such as fireflies.
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3.
Bioluminescence attracted the attention of the United States Navy in the Cold War, since submarines in some waters can create a bright enough wake to be detected; a German submarine was sunk in the First World War, having been detected in this way.
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4.
Bioluminescence studied click beetles and the marine bivalve mollusc Pholas dactylus.
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5.
Bioluminescence refuted the old idea that bioluminescence came from phosphorus, and demonstrated that the process was related to the oxidation of a specific compound, which he named luciferin, by an enzyme.
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6.
Bioluminescence sent Harvey siphons from the mollusc preserved in sugar.
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7.
Bioluminescence's research aimed to demonstrate that luciferin, and the enzymes that act on it to produce light, were interchangeable between species, showing that all bioluminescent organisms had a common ancestor.
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8.
Bioluminescence spent the next 30 years purifying and studying the components, but it fell to the young Japanese chemist Osamu Shimomura to be the first to obtain crystalline luciferin.
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9.
Bioluminescence used the sea firefly Vargula hilgendorfii, but it was another ten years before he discovered the chemical's structure and published his 1957 paper Crystalline Cypridina Luciferin.
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10.
Bioluminescence is a form of chemiluminescence where light energy is released by a chemical reaction.
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11.
Bioluminescence occurs widely among animals, especially in the open sea, including fish, jellyfish, comb jellies, crustaceans, and cephalopod molluscs; in some fungi and bacteria; and in various terrestrial invertebrates including insects.
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12.
Bioluminescence is abundant in the pelagic zone, with the most concentration at depths devoid of light and surface waters at night.
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13.
Bioluminescence is widely studied amongst species located in the mesopelagic zone, but the benthic zone at mesopelagic depths has remained widely unknown.
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14.
Bioluminescence is used in a variety of ways and for different purposes.
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15.
Bioluminescence is used by a variety of animals to mimic other species.
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16.
ATP Bioluminescence is the process in which ATP is used to generate luminescence in an organism.
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