Ancient Secretory Pathways Contributed to the Evolutionary Origin of an Ecologically Impactful Bioluminescence System.

Evolutionary innovations in chemical secretion-such as the production of secondary metabolites, pheromones, and toxins-profoundly impact ecological interactions across a broad diversity of life. These secretory innovations may involve a "legacy-plus-innovation" mode of evolution, whereby new biochemical pathways are integrated with conserved secretory processes to create novel products. Among secretory innovations, bioluminescence is important because it evolved convergently many times to influence predator-prey interactions, while often producing courtship signals linked to increased rates of speciation.

Laboratory culture of the California Sea Firefly Vargula tsujii (Ostracoda: Cypridinidae): Developing a model system for the evolution of marine bioluminescence.

Bioluminescence, or the production of light by living organisms via chemical reaction, is widespread across Metazoa. Laboratory culture of bioluminescent organisms from diverse taxonomic groups is important for determining the biosynthetic pathways of bioluminescent substrates, which may lead to new tools for biotechnology and biomedicine. Some bioluminescent groups may be cultured, including some cnidarians, ctenophores, and brittle stars, but those use luminescent substrates (luciferins) obtained from their diets, and therefore are not informative for determination of the biosynthetic pathways of the luciferins.