Malaika Nduku
I'm thrilled to share my findings on Photobacterium phosphoreum , an environmentally significant bacterium. This microorganism produces a breathtaking blue-green bioluminescence, reminiscent of a clear summer sky or a tranquil ocean. The color is calming, yet mesmerizing, evoking feelings of serenity and wonder.
This is the breathtaking blue-green bioluminescence.
This is how Photobacterium phosphoreum looks like on an agar plate
P. phosphoreum are rod-shaped, gram negative bacteria.
In reality, Photobacterium phosphoreum is a marine bacterium that produces bioluminescence through a chemical reaction, but it doesn't have the ability to unleash blasts of light or energy.
Photobacterium phosphoreum was first isolated from the aquatic environment in the late 1880’s by the Dutch microbiologist Martinus Beijerinck (1851-1931).[7] It is a Gammaproteobacteria which are Gram-negative, usually motile rods, are mesophilic and chemoorganotrophic, have falcultative fermentative metabolism and are found in aquatic habitats in association with eukaryotes.[7]
Photobacterium phosphoreum is one of many organisms that produce bioluminescence in marine organisms.
Photobacterium species are Gram-negative coccobacilli which are distributed in marine habitats worldwide. Some species are unique because of they are capable of producing essential polyunsaturated fatty acids, antibacterial compounds, lipases, esterases and asparaginases. They are also used as biosensors in food and environmental monitoring and detectors of drown victim, as well as an important symbiont.
Photobacterium phosphoreum is a Gram-negative, bioluminescent bacterium living in symbiosis with deep-sea marine organisms, such as anglerfish. It can emit bluish-green light (490 nm) due to a chemical reaction between FMN, luciferin and molecular oxygen catalysed by an enzyme called luciferase. This video will help you understand the meaning behind bioluminescence
Bioluminescence shunt in the biological carbon pump in the ocean. Luminous bacteria in light organ symbioses are successively acquired by host (squid, fish) from the seawater while they are juveniles, then regularly released into the ocean. Depending on the light organ position, luminous bacteria are released from their guts into fecal pellets or directly into the seawater (step 1). Motile luminous bacteria colonize organic matter sinking along the water column.
