ABSTRACT
The application of the bacterial lux gene cluster as a reporter system for enabling bacterial detection, monitoring bacterial injury and viability, and exploring the gene expression associated with bacterial adaptation to stress and environmental change now underpins the validity of bioluminescence as a powerful reporter system for studying diverse aspects of food microbiol ogy. Since the relationship between cell viability (culturability) and light production has been validated in diverse studies using different organisms and many inimical processes, it is possible to step beyond the need to compare viable count data with bioluminescence data and use biolumines cence alone. This is particularly important if microbiologists are to have new tools with which to monitor the growth and survival of bacteria in real environments where they exist as heterogeneous mixtures and are fre-
quently associated with surfaces. This chapter explores the current state of the art in this field.
