Spectrochemistry of Firefly Bioluminescence

The chemical reactions underlying the emission of light in fireflies and other bioluminescent beetles are some of the most thoroughly studied processes by scientists worldwide. Despite these remarkable efforts, fierce academic arguments continue around even some of the most fundamental aspects of th...

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Published in:Chemical reviews 2022-08, Vol.122 (16), p.13207-13234
Main Authors: Al-Handawi, Marieh B., Polavaram, Srujana, Kurlevskaya, Anastasiya, Commins, Patrick, Schramm, Stefan, Carrasco-López, César, Lui, Nathan M., Solntsev, Kyril M., Laptenok, Sergey P., Navizet, Isabelle, Naumov, Panče
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Beetles
Biochemistry, Molecular Biology
Bioluminescence
Chemical reactions
Chemical Sciences
Chemiluminescence
Data points
Emission analysis
Fireflies
Fluorescence
Life Sciences
Light emission
Molecular biology
or physical chemistry
Polarity
Reaction mechanisms
Structural Biology
Theoretical and
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Summary:The chemical reactions underlying the emission of light in fireflies and other bioluminescent beetles are some of the most thoroughly studied processes by scientists worldwide. Despite these remarkable efforts, fierce academic arguments continue around even some of the most fundamental aspects of the reaction mechanism behind the beetle bioluminescence. In an attempt to reach a consensus, we made an exhaustive search of the available literature and compiled the key discoveries on the fluorescence and chemiluminescence spectrochemistry of the emitting molecule, the firefly oxyluciferin, and its chemical analogues reported over the past 50+ years. The factors that affect the light emission, including intermolecular interactions, solvent polarity, and electronic effects, were analyzed in the context of both the reaction mechanism and the different colors of light emitted by different luciferases. The collective data points toward a combined emission of multiple coexistent forms of oxyluciferin as the most probable explanation for the variation in color of the emitted light. We also highlight realistic research directions to eventually address some of the remaining questions related to firefly bioluminescence. It is our hope that this extensive compilation of data and detailed analysis will not only consolidate the existing body of knowledge on this important phenomenon but will also aid in reaching a wider consensus on some of the mechanistic details of firefly bioluminescence.
ISSN:0009-2665
1520-6890
DOI:10.1021/acs.chemrev.1c01047