Luciferin

Luciferin

Luciferins (from the Latin lucifer, "light-bringer") are a class of light-emitting heterocyclic compounds found in organisms that cause bioluminescence. Luciferins typically undergo an enzyme-catalysed oxidation and the resulting unstable reaction intermediate emits light upon decaying to its ground state. The term luciferin is also used generically to refer both to the molecules that react with luciferases to emit light and to photoprotein, which emits light without the intervention of an enzyme.