Methods of Enzymology Submitted. Biochemistry 34, 16695-16702. Molecular Microbiology 17, 801-812. Two species of glowworms are found in Humboldt County.
Glowworms are realtives of fireflies and use the same chemistry for the light emiting reaction.
Since slugs are prevalent, they provide a ready source for chemical ecology studies and prey for the glowworms. A current project in my lab is the structural identification of the yellow pigment found in banana slugs. Recently, autoinducers have been found in a large number of gram-negative bacteria, some of which are plants or animal pathogens. Bacterial Pigments . There are numerous species of bacteria that produce pigments.