Book excerpt: Light Emission by Plants and Bacteria deals mainly with light coming from plants and bacteria as a result of various different reactions. This book emphasizes the light emission from photosynthetic organisms. The major aim of this book is to give insight on light emission studies in plant and bacteria in terms of its physiological, biophysical, and biochemical relevance. The book is divided into six parts. Part I serves as an introduction and at the same time a historical review and development of different concepts of the emission phenomena. Part II tackles the relationship of light emission to the various photosynthetic reactions. Part III discusses the concept of bioluminescence, with a focus on bacteria and dinoflagellates. Part IV is a description of the light emission from bacteriorhodopsin and rhodopsin. Part V discusses the special light emission characteristics and their relationship to specialized pigment systems found in different bacteria and plant groups. It also reviews the fluorescence properties of photosynthetic bacteria. Lastly, Part VI basically shows the practical applications of light emission from algae as well as higher plants. This book contains not only relevant information about theories and concepts, but also experiments. Thus, it is a recommended reference to researchers and students alike in the field of cell biology, microbiology, plant physiology, biochemistry, biophysics, and agriculture.