Luciferin

Luciferin (from the Latin lucifer, "light-bringer") is a generic term for the light-emitting compound found in organisms that generate bioluminescence. Luciferins typically undergo an enzyme-catalysed oxidation and the resulting excited state intermediate emits light upon decaying to its ground state. This may refer to molecules that are substrates for both luciferases and photoproteins.

Luciferins are a class of small-molecule substrates that are oxidized in the presence of the enzyme luciferase to produce oxyluciferin and energy in the form of light. It is not known just how many types of luciferins there are, but some of the better-studied compounds are listed below. There are many types of luciferins, yet all share the use of reactive oxygen species to emit light.

Firefly luciferin is the luciferin found in many Lampyridae species. It is the substrate of luciferase (EC 1.13.12.7) responsible for the characteristic yellow light emission from fireflies. The chemistry is unusual, as adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is required for light emission.

Latia luciferin is, in terms of chemistry, (E)-2-methyl-4-(2,6,6-trimethyl-1-cyclohex-1-yl)-1-buten-1-ol formate and is from the freshwater snail Latia neritoides.

Bacterial luciferin is a type of luciferin found in bacteria, some of which live within the specialized tissues of some squid and fish. The molecule contains a reduced riboflavin phosphate.

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