Chapter 6.4, Problem 1HYEW

You may have seen the almost magical glow of fireflies. but did you know that plants can be bioengineered to glow in t he dark, too? The firefly’s natural glow comes from specialized cells in their abdomens that are bioluminescent. meaning that they produce light from biological reactions. These cells are rich in both ATP and the fluorescent chemical luciferin (L. lucifer, light-bringer). Luciferin and ATP serve as substrates for the enzyme luciferase. In the presence of oxygen, luciferase catalyzes a reaction that modifies luciferin, using the energy from ATP to boost electrons briefly into a higher-energy electron shell. As they fall back into their original shell, the electrons emit their excess energy as light.

If Plants Can Glow In the Dark?

Plants don’t naturally glow, but bioluminescence has been bioengineered into glowing Arabidopsis plants by the Glowing Plant team. First, the team ordered commercial luciferin and luciferase DNA synthesized from its computerized gene sequence. Then they implanted these genes into a special form of bacterial DNA that incorporates itself into plant cells. They used a “gene gun” to shoot microscopic particles coated with the modified bacterial DNA into masses of plant stem cells, which developed into plants. Choosing the brightest-glowing plants, the team harvested their seeds to grow new generations, whose seeds are now sold online to buyers who wish to brighten their abodes.