Summary
Sexual communication in most species of fireflies is a
male±female dialogue of precisely timed flashes of
bioluminescent light. The biochemical reactions underlying
firefly bioluminescence have been known for 30
years and are now exploited in biomedical assays and
other commercial applications. Several aspects of flash
regulation are also understood: flash rhythm is controlled
by a central pattern generator, and individual flashes are
neurally triggered, with octopamine serving as the tr…
Read moreSummary
Sexual communication in most species of fireflies is a
male±female dialogue of precisely timed flashes of
bioluminescent light. The biochemical reactions underlying
firefly bioluminescence have been known for 30
years and are now exploited in biomedical assays and
other commercial applications. Several aspects of flash
regulation are also understood: flash rhythm is controlled
by a central pattern generator, and individual flashes are
neurally triggered, with octopamine serving as the transmitter.
The molecular oxygen needed by the biochemical
reactants is delivered by a network of tracheal arborizations
extending throughout the light organ (lantern).However,
the actual means by which oxygen quickly reaches
the reactants packaged within specialized photocytes
and the specific event(s) triggered by neural action have
not been identified; termination of axons away from the
photocytes has exacerbated the latter problem. A recent
paper(1) by a consortium of cell and evolutionary biologists,
however, reports that nitric oxide (NO), manufactured
and released in response to neuronal discharge, is
the missing link by which neural action in the firefly
lantern yields a sudden flash of light. BioEssays
23:992±995, 2001. ß 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
