Abstracts

Inceptions on bioluminescence by Harvey 1952 led to Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2008 which was awarded to Osamu Shimomura. Since then, proteins and genes of numerous bioluminescent organisms have transformed the panorama of biological research. Currently, many countries are now developing bioluminescence-based assays to monitor toxic pollutants, and utilizing luminous genes along with photoproteins as real-time markers to study the various diseases and their propagation in model organisms. In Indian scenario, the diversity and distribution of luminous organisms and their applications are studied hardly [1]. Therefore, this study provides a detailed account on distribution and diversity of bioluminescent organisms, including quiescent luminous organisms observed from marine, terrestrial, and freshwater environments of India. More than 100 species of organisms belong to different taxa are known to be luminous. The ecological role of some of the luminous organisms as environmental indicators is highlighted herein [2,3]. This account on bioluminescent organisms of India would help us to understand their ecological functions and possible biomedical applications. Till date, significant research progress has not been found on bioluminescent organisms of Indian continent. In this context, the present study reports the current status on luminous organism’s diversity, recent research activities, current research gaps and future goals.