Bioluminescence and Photoreception in Unicellular Organisms: Light-Signalling in a Bio-Communication Perspective

Bioluminescence, the emission of light catalysed by luciferases, has evolved in many taxa from bacteria to vertebrates and is predominant in the marine environment. It is now well established that in animals possessing a nervous system capable of integrating light stimuli, bioluminescence triggers v...

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Autores principales:	Youri Timsit, Magali Lescot, Martha Valiadi, Fabrice Not
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	bioluminescence luciferase photoreceptors lux operon dinoflagellate communication Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Chemistry QD1-999
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/15846ff54e7842f6ab306f379ebaba10
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:15846ff54e7842f6ab306f379ebaba102021-11-11T16:48:09ZBioluminescence and Photoreception in Unicellular Organisms: Light-Signalling in a Bio-Communication Perspective10.3390/ijms2221113111422-00671661-6596https://doaj.org/article/15846ff54e7842f6ab306f379ebaba102021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/21/11311https://doaj.org/toc/1661-6596https://doaj.org/toc/1422-0067Bioluminescence, the emission of light catalysed by luciferases, has evolved in many taxa from bacteria to vertebrates and is predominant in the marine environment. It is now well established that in animals possessing a nervous system capable of integrating light stimuli, bioluminescence triggers various behavioural responses and plays a role in intra- or interspecific visual communication. The function of light emission in unicellular organisms is less clear and it is currently thought that it has evolved in an ecological framework, to be perceived by visual animals. For example, while it is thought that bioluminescence allows bacteria to be ingested by zooplankton or fish, providing them with favourable conditions for growth and dispersal, the luminous flashes emitted by dinoflagellates may have evolved as an anti-predation system against copepods. In this short review, we re-examine this paradigm in light of recent findings in microorganism photoreception, signal integration and complex behaviours. Numerous studies show that on the one hand, bacteria and protists, whether autotrophs or heterotrophs, possess a variety of photoreceptors capable of perceiving and integrating light stimuli of different wavelengths. Single-cell light-perception produces responses ranging from phototaxis to more complex behaviours. On the other hand, there is growing evidence that unicellular prokaryotes and eukaryotes can perform complex tasks ranging from habituation and decision-making to associative learning, despite lacking a nervous system. Here, we focus our analysis on two taxa, bacteria and dinoflagellates, whose bioluminescence is well studied. We propose the hypothesis that similar to visual animals, the interplay between light-emission and reception could play multiple roles in intra- and interspecific communication and participate in complex behaviour in the unicellular world.Youri TimsitMagali LescotMartha ValiadiFabrice NotMDPI AGarticlebioluminescenceluciferasephotoreceptorslux operondinoflagellatecommunicationBiology (General)QH301-705.5ChemistryQD1-999ENInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol 22, Iss 11311, p 11311 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	bioluminescence luciferase photoreceptors lux operon dinoflagellate communication Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Chemistry QD1-999
spellingShingle	bioluminescence luciferase photoreceptors lux operon dinoflagellate communication Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Chemistry QD1-999 Youri Timsit Magali Lescot Martha Valiadi Fabrice Not Bioluminescence and Photoreception in Unicellular Organisms: Light-Signalling in a Bio-Communication Perspective
description	Bioluminescence, the emission of light catalysed by luciferases, has evolved in many taxa from bacteria to vertebrates and is predominant in the marine environment. It is now well established that in animals possessing a nervous system capable of integrating light stimuli, bioluminescence triggers various behavioural responses and plays a role in intra- or interspecific visual communication. The function of light emission in unicellular organisms is less clear and it is currently thought that it has evolved in an ecological framework, to be perceived by visual animals. For example, while it is thought that bioluminescence allows bacteria to be ingested by zooplankton or fish, providing them with favourable conditions for growth and dispersal, the luminous flashes emitted by dinoflagellates may have evolved as an anti-predation system against copepods. In this short review, we re-examine this paradigm in light of recent findings in microorganism photoreception, signal integration and complex behaviours. Numerous studies show that on the one hand, bacteria and protists, whether autotrophs or heterotrophs, possess a variety of photoreceptors capable of perceiving and integrating light stimuli of different wavelengths. Single-cell light-perception produces responses ranging from phototaxis to more complex behaviours. On the other hand, there is growing evidence that unicellular prokaryotes and eukaryotes can perform complex tasks ranging from habituation and decision-making to associative learning, despite lacking a nervous system. Here, we focus our analysis on two taxa, bacteria and dinoflagellates, whose bioluminescence is well studied. We propose the hypothesis that similar to visual animals, the interplay between light-emission and reception could play multiple roles in intra- and interspecific communication and participate in complex behaviour in the unicellular world.
format	article
author	Youri Timsit Magali Lescot Martha Valiadi Fabrice Not
author_facet	Youri Timsit Magali Lescot Martha Valiadi Fabrice Not
author_sort	Youri Timsit
title	Bioluminescence and Photoreception in Unicellular Organisms: Light-Signalling in a Bio-Communication Perspective
title_short	Bioluminescence and Photoreception in Unicellular Organisms: Light-Signalling in a Bio-Communication Perspective
title_full	Bioluminescence and Photoreception in Unicellular Organisms: Light-Signalling in a Bio-Communication Perspective
title_fullStr	Bioluminescence and Photoreception in Unicellular Organisms: Light-Signalling in a Bio-Communication Perspective
title_full_unstemmed	Bioluminescence and Photoreception in Unicellular Organisms: Light-Signalling in a Bio-Communication Perspective
title_sort	bioluminescence and photoreception in unicellular organisms: light-signalling in a bio-communication perspective
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/15846ff54e7842f6ab306f379ebaba10
work_keys_str_mv	AT youritimsit bioluminescenceandphotoreceptioninunicellularorganismslightsignallinginabiocommunicationperspective AT magalilescot bioluminescenceandphotoreceptioninunicellularorganismslightsignallinginabiocommunicationperspective AT marthavaliadi bioluminescenceandphotoreceptioninunicellularorganismslightsignallinginabiocommunicationperspective AT fabricenot bioluminescenceandphotoreceptioninunicellularorganismslightsignallinginabiocommunicationperspective
_version_	1718432223398461440

Bioluminescence and Photoreception in Unicellular Organisms: Light-Signalling in a Bio-Communication Perspective

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