Trees, Plants That Glow in the Dark? Expert Is Working on It

A University of California expert in plant pathology has reported that one of the byproducts of his research may be Christmas trees that glow in the dark.

Clarence I. Kado of the University of California at Davis says he has come up with a way to remove a set of genes from the light-producing bacteria of a luminescent fish and inject them into plants.

The possible applications include oleanders which light up the edges of roadways, luminiscent plants along airstrips and even glowing Christmas trees.

More practical uses, Kado said, are using “bioluminescence” to trace the spread of diseases in plants.

“This visual system for monitoring the process of infection (in plants) leaves the host and the disease agent essentially undisturbed,” Kado said.

Kado takes a set of genes from a bacterium that inhabits the light-generating organ of a luminescent salt-water fish, the Monocentris japonicus, and then inserts it into bacteria that invade plants.