Microbiological research in the days before specialized equipment, or even electricity, required a great deal of ingenuity. The revival of 90-year-old bioluminescent bacteria from Beijerinck's laboratory in Delft prompted a review of his work with these microorganisms and revealed their use in simple techniques for the investigation of, among other things, sugar metabolism in yeasts, oxygen gen...

Figure 1. Millipede luminescence and predation. (A) Motyxia sequoiae photographed in natural light, and (B) entirely with light from bioluminescence; (C) Mean proportion of millipedes attacked versus luminescence. Number of individuals attacked above bars; (D) Rodent incisor marks in clay millipede; (E) Live millipede (arrow) with anterior segments 1–14 missing after predator attack. Biolumines...

Detection of very low light levels arising from individual cells of the naturally bioluminescent bacterium Vibrio fischeri as well as from a luminescence-marked Pseudomonas putida strain was achieved by the aid of two different camera systems. Using a liquid nitrogen-cooled slow-scan CCD (charge-coupled device) camera were able to detect single-cell bioluminescence within 1 min, and the picture...

Genes encoding bioluminescence from Vibrio harveyi were cloned into Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseoli-cola, resulting in high levels of bioluminescence. After inoculation of sterile and nonsterile soil slurries with bioluminescent P. syringae, cells could not be identified by conventional light microscopy. However, when we used charge coupled device-enhanced microscopy, bioluminescent single ce...

The construction of bioluminescent and fluorescent foodborne pathogens to study behavior in food systems is an expanding area of research. Using recombinant DNA technology, food microbiologists can create bioluminescent pathogens that enable the study of growth, injury, and destruction in complex systems. In addition, bioluminescence can be employed in rapid detection of pathogens through the u...

In this fully enzymic bioluminescent assay, triglycerides are cleaved by lipase (EC 3.1.1.3) and carboxylesterase (EC 3.1.1.1), and the glycerol obtained is phosphorylated with ATP and glycerol kinase (EC 2.7.1.30). The ATP consumed in the latter reaction is determined by the firefly luciferin-luciferase reaction, and corresponds to the concentration of triglycerides. All the enzymic reactions ...

Since bioluminescence does not require excitation light, it is free from auto-fluorescence. Therefore, it has been used for quantitative analysis of gene expression and in vivo imaging. Furthermore, it is free from potential phototoxicity and is compatible with optogenetic tools. However application of bioluminescent imaging has been limited mainly by two drawbacks. Firstly, the light output fr...