Bioluminescence emissions of the firefly Luciola praeusta Kiesenwetter 1874 (Coleoptera : Lampyridae : Luciolinae).
We recorded the in vivo emission and time-resolved spectra of the firefly Luciola praeusta Kiesenwetter 1874 (Coleoptera : Lampyridae : Luciolinae). The emission spectrum shows that the full width at half maximum (FWHM) value for this particular species is 55 nm, which is significantly narrower than the in vivo half-widths reported till now. The time-resolved spectrum reveals that a flash of about 100 ms duration is, in fact, composed of a number of microsecond pulses. This suggests that the speed of the enzyme-catalysed chemiluminescence reaction in the firefly for the emission of light is much faster than was previously believed.
Barua
A Gohain
AG
Department of Physics, Gauhati University, Guwahati 781 014, India. agohainbarua@yahoo.com
Hazarika
S
S
Saikia
N M
NM
Baruah
G D
GD
D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D002384:Catalysis; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004798:Enzymes / Q000737:chemistry; D049454:Firefly Luciferin / Q000737:chemistry; D008027:Light; D049449:Luminescence; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009991:Oscillometry / Q000379:methods; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry; D013053:Spectrophotometry / Q000379:methods; D013997:Time Factors
D004798:Enzymes; D049454:Firefly Luciferin; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D010100:Oxygen