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Bioluminescence refers to light produced by living organisms, including some species of bacteria of marine origin. The mechanism of bacterial luminescence is given by a biochemical reaction in which luciferin, oxygen, the enzyme luciferase and ATP participate, to result in the emission of light and the formation of water. The expression of the Lux genes that encode the enzymatic machinery is regulated for some species by quorum sensing, a phenomenon that allows light emission to only occur when there is a high cell density. Chemical and biological contaminants, as well as some physical factors in the environment can affect the luminescence emission. Given their sensitivity to environmental conditions and low toxicity, luminescent bacteria have been employed in a wide variety of fields, including gene expression analyses, drug discovery, studies of protein dynamics, mapping of signal transduction pathways and environmental monitoring. The objective of this review is to present the state of research on the phenomenon of bioluminescence, with a special focus on luminescent marine bacteria and their potential application in the field of biotechnology and environmental monitoring.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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