Photobacterium phosphoreum is a Gram-negative, bioluminescent bacterium living in symbiosis with deep-sea marine organisms, such as anglerfish.[1] 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.
Photobacterium phosphoreum | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Bacteria |
Phylum: | Pseudomonadota |
Class: | Gammaproteobacteria |
Order: | Vibrionales |
Family: | Vibrionaceae |
Genus: | Photobacterium |
Species: | P. phosphoreum |
Binomial name | |
Photobacterium phosphoreum (Cohn 1878) Beijerinck 1889 (Approved Lists 1980) | |
Synonyms | |
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Ecology
P. phosphoreum appears to be distributed worldwide in oceans and is found in a variety of different marine habitats.[1] It was first isolated in 1878 from seawater, but has also been reported from the surfaces of fish and other marine animals, the intestines of fish, coastal seawater, and from a state of bioluminescent symbiosis with fish. P. phosphoreum colonizes a wide variety of deep-sea fishes which generally occur in the mesopelagic and bentho-pelagic zones.[1]
As a bioindicator
P. phosphoreum is the most frequently used luminescent bacterium in water quality assessment.[2]
References
External links
- Piotr Madanecki's Website about Luminescent Bacteria
- Isolation of P. phosphoreum Cultures from Seafish
- Type strain of Photobacterium phosphoreum at BacDive - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase