glowing plants

New Papers Winter 2024 - recent progress in bioluminescence studies

Four new articles on bioluminescent topics have been published since the beginning of 2024: a review about the study of bioluminescence of fungi in a prestigious Journal of Photochemistry and Photobiology C: Photochemistry Reviews, two milestone articles about the use of fungal autonomic bioluminescence system, including in eukaryotic organisms, in Nature Methods and Science Advances and a fresh update about the study of bioluminescence mechanism of Henlea earthworm in BBRC.

Sustainable Light Achieved in Living Plants

We are happy to announce that new paper about autoluminescent plants was published this week in Nature Biotechnology as a result of collaboration between Yampolsky lab and Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry RAS, Planta, MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences, and the Institute of Science and Technology Austria.

The research of fungal bioluminescent system revealed that its bioluminescence is metabolically similar to the natural processes common among plants. By inserting DNA obtained from the mushroom, we were able to create plants that glow much brighter than previously possible.

This biological light can be used by scientists for observing the inner workings of plants or for practical and aesthetic purposes, most notably for creating glowing flowers and other ornamental plants. Please refer to the original paper to learn more.

The work was highlighted in Nature Plants, Nature Methods, CNN, Guardian, The Times, Science etc.