Life Sciences Commons^™

Firefly Flashing Is Controlled By Gating Oxygen To Light-Emitting Cells, G. S. Timmins, F. J. Robb, C. M. Wilmot, S. K. Jackson, H. M. Swartz

Dartmouth Scholarship

Although many aspects of firefly bioluminescence are understood, the mechanism by which adult fireflies produce light as discrete rapid flashes is not. Here we examine the most postulated theory, that flashing is controlled by gating oxygen access to the light-emitting cells (photocytes). According to this theory, the dark state represents repression of bioluminescence by limiting oxygen, which is required for bioluminescence; relief from this repression by transiently allowing oxygen access to the photocytes allows the flash. We show that normobaric hyperoxia releases the repression of light emission in the dark state of both spontaneously flashing and non-flashing fireflies, causing continual …