Strange Leaves Glowing in the Dark

[blue_cristal]

I recall that, about 30 years ago, when I was trying to walk through a seacoast forest in Brazil during the night I stumbled in a eerie patch where I got surrounded by strong little lights.

 

At the beginning I did not know what those strong lights were. When I touched one of them I realized that it was a small leaf ( its length was about 2 cm ). Since it was very dark I could not tell if it was a leaf from a shrub or a tree.

 

I reasoned that probably it was not the leaves themselves the source of light, otherwise all leaves of the shrub / tree should glow. Probably bioluminescent micro-organisms forming a thin layer were living on the surface of those leaves.

 

Does someone know what intense bioluminescent micro-organisms grow on the surface of terrestrial plant leaves ?

[carol]

i don't know about that, but i have seen a fungi that lives on tree barks and glows in the dark. i think there are plants that are phosphorescent.

[insane_alien]

if its by the coast then it could be plankton that has been washed up.

[blue_cristal]

if its by the coast then it could be plankton that has been washed up.

 

1) The forest was by the coast but it was on the top of a cliff about 20 meters above the sea level.

 

2) Furthermore the trees / shrubs with luminescent leaves were deep inside the forest about 200 meters distant from the margin that faced the sea. ( I mention trees / shrubs because the vegetation was very dense from the floor and upwards and in the complete darkness it was impossible to know what kind of plants they were.)

 

So it is not only quite improbable that the waves were thrown so high and far away but also such hypothesis does not fit with the pattern of the distribution of the lights. If this was the case then a) the trees / shrubs closer to the sea would also be luminescent ( and even more intensely ); b) entire contiguous patches of the trees/shrubs including branches would be luminescent instead just quite scattered leaves (each tree / shrub had only few luminescent leaves which were quite separated from each other about one meter on average ); c) the entire surface of one side of the leaf was intensely and uniformly luminescent. This uniform and localized pattern does not fit with what we would find if they were just sprinkled with sea water. d) The leaves were dry and it is quite improvable that the marine bioluminescent plankton would survive and form a uniform layer that covered the entire surface on one side of the leaf.

 

My best guess is that it was an unknown species of bioluminescent bacteria or bioluminescent microscopic fungus symbiotic or parasitic to the plants.

 

i don't know about that, but i have seen a fungi that lives on tree barks and glows in the dark. i think there are plants that are phosphorescent.

 

 

Yes, the literature, that I searched so far, mention about fungi but nothing about bioluminescent plants.

 

I also found cases of tiny bioluminescent worms living on plants but it is improvable that they would be so discretely localized on leaves and form a very uniform layer.

[YT2095]

Luciferin or luciferase perhaps?

[blue_cristal]

Luciferin or luciferase perhaps?

 

Luciferin ( there are several different types ) and luciferase are respectively the substrate and enzyme ( biomolecules ) responsible for bioluminescence in several different types of organisms.

 

Actually, there are five known distinct classes of luciferin: aldehydes, benzothiazoles, imidazolopyrazines, tetrapyrroles and flavins (Hosseinkhani 2003). Each one is found in a different species.

 

I found some good articles about bacteria luciferase here:

 

http://www.proteinscience.org/cgi/content/full/10/8/1563

 

http://www.modares.ac.ir/sci/saman_h/Pages/bacterial.htm

[carol]

oh! i haven't really considered that the site was near the sea. it could be planktons (there so good to look at... )

 

Yes, the literature, that I searched so far, mention about fungi but nothing about bioluminescent plants.

 

I also found cases of tiny bioluminescent worms living on plants but it is improvable that they would be so discretely localized on leaves and form a very uniform layer.

 

that's why i used phosphorescence. they just emit a faint glow so it might not be that. i have found something that might be useful...

http://www.nswseakayaker.asn.au/mag/46/bioluminescence.html

[blue_cristal]

Phosphorescence produces light that it is transformed from previously accumulated radiation ( sunlight, artificial light, etc ). This usually happen with some inert materials.

 

Living beings usually produce bioluminescence. They generate their own light.

[carol]

yup, i have read about something called a firefly plant. i'm not sure if it really exists but it says there that it grows in areas with frequent water.

[alan2here]

Is it possible to breed glow in the dark plankton in a lab insane_alien?

[blue_cristal]

Is it possible to breed glow in the dark plankton in a lab insane_alien?

 

Probably yes if you reproduce its natural conditions like temperature, water salts composition, pH, nutrients, oxygen, etc.

[insane_alien]

Is it possible to breed glow in the dark plankton in a lab insane_alien?

 

i don't know, i'm not a biologist. it might not be plankton i'm thinking about. its that organism that glows green when its disturbed like in the wake of a ship. i've seen that and it was kinda freaky. this big long green trail.

[alan2here]

I just rather like idea of a liquid that glows (emits light) as long as it is kept fed (as opposed to the sort which need light to charge and then run out when its dark or those that you crack and then they only last so long)

 

NASA tries to photograph every instance of "micro-plankton explosion" as it happens, it is a category of natural hazards on world wind. They only happen occasionally and look like a very large discolored patch of ocean.

[Altarguen]

This is my first reply here in this forum. I've tried before but for some reason I can't read what I have posted. Thus, I'll write again.

 

In fact there are bioluminescent plants! While camping close to the Serra do Mar State Park (Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar) in the forests around the city of Embu-Guaçu, State of São Paulo, Brazil, I saw a species of plant whose leaves emitted discreet light, seen only at night. The light is produced by the leaves themselves and not by microorganisms like fungi or bacteria. I know the exact localization where these plants grow and was surprised by the fact that botanists don't know this plant species emit light. Indeed, the plant light is seen only in darkness. I think this plant has been collected and even identified but botanists don't know they emit light because the phenomenon is seen only at night and the plant must be alive. It is not possible to see the phenomenon during daylight and in dry, exsicatted plants.

 

Actually, I am not the first one who discovered the plants emit light. As far as I know, the first ones who discovered these intriguing beings emitting light are two brave women who camped at that place long time before me.

[alan2here]

Id be intrested if glow in the dark plants became avalible.

[chemkid]

Firefox is a common name of some bioluminescent mircrobe. Also, some jelly fish are bioluminescent.

 

Firefox is a common name of some bioluminescent mircrobe. Also, some jelly fish are bioluminescent.

 

Chemkid