The colorful Glow of Nature and its chemical Mechanisms Bioluminescence Part 1: Terrestrial Bioluminescence

This article examines terrestrial bioluminescence illustrated by many individual organisms such as the firefly, fungi, snails, worms, and even larvae. For each of the systems, a brief historical, geographical or biological background is given, followed by a discussion of the underlying chemical reactions that are responsible for the light emission. Common to all of them is the reaction of an oxygen-rich intermediate, whose decomposition leads to the generation of electronically excited states of the emitter molecules. Although many terrestrial bioluminescence systems have already been studied, there are still a large number of almost completely unknown systems that are the subject of current research.

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