Effect of very high magnetic field on the optical properties of firefly light emitter oxyluciferin

Abstract Magnetic field effect on enzymatic reactions is under intensive study in the past decades. Recently, it was reported that firefly bioluminescence was suppressed and red-shifted significantly when exposed to external magnetic field. However in this work, by means of selective excitation, we confirmed that emission properties of firefly light emitter “oxyluciferin” are completely immune to external magnetic field of up to 53 T. These findings pose strong contrast to existing relevant results. Potential reasons for the discrepancies found and the underlying physics towards the understanding of firefly bioluminescence were discussed.