Bioluminescence

Bioluminescence is a natural phenomenon resulting in light emission as a consequence of an enzymatic reaction. Bioluminescence occurs in nature in approximately 30 different bioluminescent systems, such as insect fireflies, luminous marine and terrestrial microorganisms. In fireflies, the bioluminescence is produced by an oxidative transformation of luciferin into an excited state intermediate by the firefly luciferase. The reaction occurs in the presence of oxygen, ATP and Mg²⁺ co-factors.

Chemiluminescence

Chemiluminescence is a non-enzymatic, chemical reaction characterized by its emission of light. In the chemical reaction, a high energy intermediate is generated which emits light as it returns to its ground state. Several chemical structures such as peroxyoxalates, acridinium salts, luminol, and dioxetanes are known to have chemiluminescent properties.

Chromogenic Substrates

Chromogenic Substrates are soluble colourless molecules composed of a chromophore and a specific enzyme substrate. The specific enzyme can cleave the chromophore-substrate conjugate and generate an insoluble product of distinctive colour. Therefore, Chromogenic Substrates are frequently added to solid bacteriological culture media since they allow differentiation of microorganisms based on the presence of specific marker enzymes.

Fluorogenic Substrates

Fluorogenic enzyme substrates are composed of an enzyme-labile moiety and a fluorogenic moiety. Upon enzymatic action, the fluorogenic moiety gets cleaved off the synthetic enzyme substrate, generating a fluorescent signal which can be detected and quantified. There is a wide choice of fluorogenic moieties in synthetic enzyme substrates, which can be based on amino-4-methyl coumarins (AMC), fluorescein, resorufin, rhodamine, TFMU, MU, CU, and others.

Biosynth Carbosynth is a fully hybrid Research Products, Life Sciences Reagents and Custom Synthesis and Manufacturing Services Company with global research, manufacturing and distribution facilities. They are the supplier of choice for many in the pharmaceutical, life science, food, agrochemical, cosmetic and diagnostic sectors and manufacture and source a vast range of chemical and biochemical products. The company specializes in carbohydrates, nucleosides, phospholipids, enzyme substrates, antimicrobials, APIs and natural products and has a full range of reagents for protein production and analysis. Find out more about Biosynth Carbosynth at www.biosynth-carbosynth.com.