What’s in a Name? A Biochemical Perspective on the Microbial Luciferase-like Monoxygenase Family—The Bac_Luciferases by Another Name

From a biochemical perspective, the recently introduced collective term luciferase-like monooxygenase family (LLM family) is notable for grouping together bacterial enzymes with fundamentally different functional characteristics. Thus not only does the family include non-bioluminescent and well as bioluminescent enzymes, but additionally both anoxybiontic and oxybiontic enzymes. By reviewing both the relatively short history of the LLM family itself, and the more protracted development of our present understanding of a number of the biochemically disparate composite enzyme groups, alternative representational descriptors can be identified that better serve both to succinctly delineate and functionally characterise the discrete groups currently corralled into the LLM family.