New type of delayed light emission from photosynthetic bacteria

A new type of short-wavelength delayed light emission from the photosynthetic bacteria Rhodospirillum rubrum and Rhodopseudomonas spheroides was found. The emission and action spectra suggest that magnesium protoporphyrin IX or a similar compound is the emitter. Anaerobic conditions were necessary to detect this long-lived emission. Some inhibitors of the primary processes of photosynthesis affected the intensity and the decay rate of the delayed light emission.