ABSTRACT
Most photobiological processes are triggered by light absorption. A wide range of biochemical reactions and physiological functions can be initiated by the capture of photons at an appropriate energy level by specific sensing or receptor molecules. In contrast, bioluminescence is an unusual subfield of photobiology; energy derived from biochemical reactions is coupled to the generation of excited states and, in turn, emission of visible light with high quantum yields, usually in the range of 0.1 to near unity. Bioluminescent species are found in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. The underlying biological and chemical principles for the expression and regulation of bioluminescence were the subject for active basic and applied research for several decades. Among known bioluminescent systems, bacterial bioluminescence is one of the most extensively studied few with respect to biochemistry. A chapter by this author on the subject of biochemistry of bacterial bioluminescence was published in the 1995 edition of this book.
