Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Bioluminescence emissions from the Indian winter species of firefly Diaphanes sp.

  • Published:
Journal of Biosciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Numerous studies have been carried out on different aspects of the light from summer-active fireflies. Characteristics of this light have led to very interesting conclusions on the chemiluminescence reaction as well as on the nature of the light from live fireflies. Here we present a first report on bioluminescence emissions from a newly found winter-active Indian species of firefly Diaphanes sp. The steady-state emission spectrum from this species comes out to be apparently similar to those from the other two Indian summer species, Luciola praeusta and Asymmetricata circumdata: asymmetric in nature with a little bit of change in the position of the peak wavelength and in the width of the full width at half maximum. An increase in temperature to approximately 28°C causes a red-shift in the peak wavelength, which probably indicates denaturation of the enzyme luciferase in the live, flashing condition. Emissions in the time domain reveal that the light is never completely off – it decreases in intensity to a low value, sometimes very close to zero, and then increases – a characteristic unheard-of till date. Flash durations are considerably longer than those from the two Indian summer species; those become shorter at about 28°C and increase to noticeably larger values at higher temperatures.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ando Y, Niwa K, Yamada N, Enomoto T, Irie T, Kubota H, Ohmiya Y and Akiyama H 2008 Firefly bioluminescence quantum yield and colour change by pH-sensitive green emission. Nat. Photonics 2 44–47

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Baumes JM 2010 Storable, thermally activated, near-infrared chemiluminescent dyes and dye-stained microparticles for optical imaging. Nat. Chem. 2 1025–1030

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Block W 1990 Cold tolerance of insects and other arthropods. Philos. T. R. Soc. B 326 613–633

    Google Scholar 

  • Carlson AD 2004 Is the firefly flash regulated by calcium? Integr. Comp. Biol. 44 220–224

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Clough JM, Balan A, van Daal TLJ and Sijbesma RP 2016 Probing force with mechanobase-induced chemiluminescence. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 55 1445–1449

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dyrup ST, Risteen RG, Tonyai KK, Farrar M A, D’Antonio B E, Ahmed Z B, Christofel B T, Howells N R and Smedley S R 2017 Escape into winter: Does a phonelogical shift by Elychnia corrusca (winter firefly) shield it from a specialist predator (photuris)? Northeast. Nat. 24 B147–B166

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fan F, Binkowski BF, Butler BL, Stecha PF, Lewis MK and Wood KV 2008 Novel genetically encoded biosensors using firefly luciferase. ACS Chem. Biol. 3 346–351

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fu X-H, Wang J-G, Ohba N and Lei C-L 2005 The signals of bioluminescent communication in fireflies (Coleoptera : Lampyridae). Acta Ecol. Sin. 25 1439–1444

    Google Scholar 

  • Gabriel GVM and Viviani VR 2014 Novel application of pH-sensitive firefly luciferases as dual reporter genes for simultaneous ratiometric analysis of intracellular pH and gene expression/location. Photochem. Photobiol. Sci. 13 1661–1670

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gohain Barua A, Hazarika S, Saikia NM and Baruah GD 2009 Bioluminescence emissions of the firefly Luciola praeusta Kiesenwetter 1874 (Coleoptera : Lampyridae : Luciolinae). J. Biosci. 34 287–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gohain Barua A, Iwasaka M, Miyashita Y, Kurita Y and Owada N 2012 Firefly flashing under strong static magnetic field. Photochem. Photobiol Sci. 11 345–350

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goswami A, Sharma U, Rabha MM, Rajbongshi SC and Gohain Barua A 2015 Steady-state and time-resolved bioluminescence of the firefly Asymmetricata circumdata (Motschulsky). Curr. Sci. 109 1838–1842

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Goswami A, Phukan P and Gohain Barua A 2019 Manifestation of peaks in a live firefly flash. J. Fluoresc. 29 505–513

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goswami A and Gohain Barua A 2019 In vivo lifetimes of the three color-sectors in bioluminescence emissions of the firefly Luciola praeusta at different temperatures. Spectrosc. Lett. 52 253–260

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lakowicz JR 1999 Principles of Fluorescence Spectroscopy 2nd Edn. (New York: Springer) pp 14–15

  • Lall AB, Seliger HH, Biggley WH and Lloyd JE 1980 Ecology of colors of firefly bioluminescence. Science 210 560–562

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Leng W, Pang X, Xia H, Li M, Chen L, Tang Q, Yuan D, Li R, Li L, Gao F and Bi F 2013 Novel split-luciferase-based genetically encoded biosensors for noninvasive visualization of Rho GTPases. Plos One 8 e62230

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lewis SM and Cratsley CK 2008 Signal evolution, mate choice, and predation in fireflies. Annu. Rev. Entomol. 53 293–321

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd JE 1965 Aggressive mimicry in Photuris: firefly femmes fatales. Science 149 653–654

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd JE 1975 Aggressive mimicry in Photuris fireflies: signal repertoires by femmes fatales. Science 187 452–453

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lloyd JE 1993 The winter firefly. Fireflyer Companion 1 11

    Google Scholar 

  • Ichioka S, Minegishi M, Iwasaka M, Shibata M, Nakatsuka T, Harii K, Kamiya A and Ueno S 2000 High-intensity static magnetic fields modulate skin microcirculation and temperature in vivo. Bioelectromagnetics 21 183–188

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mezzanotte L, van’t Root M, Karatas H, Goun EA and Löwik CWGM 2017 In vivo molecular bioluminescence imaging: new tools and applications. Trends Biotechnol. 35 640–652

  • Rabha MM, Sharma U, Goswami A and Gohain Barua A 2017 Bioluminescence emissions of female fireflies of the species Luciola praeusta. J. Photochem. Photobiol. B: Biol. 170 134–139

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rooney JA and Lewis SM 2000 Notes on the life history and mating behavior of Ellychnia corrusca (Coloeptera: Lampyridae). Fla. Entomol. 83 324–334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seliger HH, Buck JB, Fastie WG and McElroy WD 1964 The spectral distribution of firefly light. J. Gen. Physiol. 48 95–104

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma U, Goswami A, Rabha MM and Gohain Barua A 2016 In vivo bioluminescence emissions of the firefly Luciola praeusta at low temperatures. J. Photochem. Photobiol. B: Biol. 161 383–386

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sharma U, Goswami A, Phukan M, Rajbongshi SC and Gohain Barua A 2014 Temperature dependence of the flash duration of the firefly Luciola praeusta. Photochem. Photobiol. Sci. 13 1788–1792

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shuhendler AJ, Pu K, Cui L, Uetrecht JP and Rao J 2014 Real-time imaging of oxidative and nitrosative stress in the liver of live animals for drug-toxicity testing. Nat. Biotechnol. 32 373–380

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Viviani VR 2001 Fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae) from southeastern Brazil: habitats, life history, and bioluminescence. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 94 129–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu X, Chen Q, Sun Y and Fan X 2013 Bio-inspired optofluidic lasers with luciferin. Appl. Phys. Lett. 102 203706

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology, India (No. CRG/2018/001430). We thank Dr. Lezley Ballantyne, Charles Sturt University, Australia, for suggesting the name of Dr. Xinhua Fu for identification of the species.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Adarsha Mahavidyalaya, Behali, 784 184, India

    Mana Mohan Rabha

  2. Department of Physics, Gauhati University, Guwahati, 781 014, India

    Upamanyu Sharma & Anurup Gohain Barua

Authors
  1. Mana Mohan Rabha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Upamanyu Sharma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Anurup Gohain Barua
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anurup Gohain Barua.

Additional information

Corresponding editor: BJ Rao

Corresponding editor: BJ Rao

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 62 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rabha, M.M., Sharma, U. & Gohain Barua, A. Bioluminescence emissions from the Indian winter species of firefly Diaphanes sp.. J Biosci 45, 61 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12038-020-00033-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12038-020-00033-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation