Nature's Glowing Slime Investigated: Blue Bioluminscence

It's slimy, it's produced by a worm and it glows blue.  The mucus that a little-known marine worm creates results in a dazzling bioluminescent display in the form of puffs of blue light. Now, scientists are taking a closer look at this startling bioluminescence, learning a little bit more about how this worm creates its glow.

Commonly known as the "parchment tube worm," the Chaetopterus marine worm can secrete its mucus out of any part of its body. Despite this unusual feature, though, the worm hasn't been studied by scientists in more than 50 years. Yet two recent studies have helped explain a bit more about this worm and have helped rekindle interest in its strange bioluminescence.

In this study, though, the researchers focused on the general biochemistry and optical properties of the light production. Although a previous studied traced back the worm's light to a specific "photoprotein," scientists wanted to examine the glow itself more in depth.

"We have shown that the mucus produces a long-lasting glow of blue light, which is unique for this environment where bioluminescence is usually produced as short-lived flashes of light in the green spectrum, especially for benthic (seafloor) species," said Dmitri Dehyn, one of the researchers, in a news release.

So what is the glow actually used for? The mucus is probably used by the worms as a trap to attract prey, a deterrent to ward of unwelcome house guests or possibly a substance that helps build the worms' flaky, tube-shaped homes. However, more research is needed before the scientists come to any definite conclusions.

Understanding more about this bioluminescent display isn't just about discovering more about this unusual species, though. It could actually have future biotechnological applications. Because the light that's produced has a long glow without direct oxygen consumption, it could potentially be used as a source of light. Currently, further investigations are targeted at uncovering the intricacies of the chemical reactions behind the light production and methods to synthesizing the light production in the laboratory.

The findings are published in the journal Physiological and Biochemical Zoology.