The Spectral Distribution of the Luminescence Emitted During Growth of the Yeast Saccharomyces Cerevisiae and Its Relationship to Mitogenetic Radiation

The spectral distributions of two previously reported weak luminescences from liquid cultures of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been determined. During the logarithmic phase of growth, emission was observed as a broad UV band between 200 and 425 nm, and as a visible region band between 525 and 700 nm. During the stationary phase, there were two narrow bands centred at 250 and 650 nm, and a broad band extending from 325 to 525 nm. The UV components are compared with Gurwitsch's mitogenetic radiation, and possible chemical and radiolytic sources of the luminescences are discussed.