Mechanisms and applications of Bioluminescence with special reference to Bioluminescent and Chemiluminescent reporters and biosensors: A review

Abstract

Luminescence is the emission of radiation or photons from a molecule or atom from the excited state to the ground state. Bioluminescence is a light-producing phenomenon in natural organisms for communication, prey, or defense. Chemiluminescence is a broader term and may refer to any chemical reaction that emits visible light on its course. In chemiluminescence, atoms or molecules take energy from chemical reactions and emit photons from higher vibrational levels of exited states. This chapter is a minireview of some of the Bioluminescent reporters such as Luciferases, Coelenterazine-Consuming Luciferases, Renilla luciferase (RLuc) and its derivatives, Gaussia luciferase and its derivatives, Oplophorus luciferase and its derivatives, Artificial luciferases and Bacterial Luciferase. Along with this, bioluminescent and chemiluminescent biosensors are also studied here.