Bioluminescent bacteria require myristic acid (C14:0) to produce the myristaldehyde substrate of the light-emitting luciferase reaction. Since both endogenous and exogenous C14:0 can be used for this purpose, the metabolism of exogenous fatty acids by luminescent bacteria has been investigated. Both Vibrio harveyi and Vibrio fischeri incorporated label from [1-14C]myristic acid (C14:0) into phospholipid acyl chains as well as into CO2. In contrast, Photobacterium phosphoreum did not exhibit phospholipid acylation or beta-oxidation using exogenous fatty acids. Unlike Escherichia coli, the two Vibrio species can directly elongate fatty acids such as octanoic (C8:0), lauric (C12:0), and myristic acid, as demonstrated by radio-gas liquid chromatography. The induction of bioluminescence in late exponential growth had little effect on the ability of V. harveyi to elongate fatty acids, but it did increase the amount of C14:0 relative to C16:0 labeled from [14C]C8:0. This was not observed in a dark mutant of V. harveyi that is incapable of supplying endogenous C14:0 for luminescence. Cerulenin preferentially decreased the labeling of C16:0 and of unsaturated fatty acids from all 14C-labeled fatty acid precursors as well as from [14C]acetate, suggesting that common mechanisms may be involved in elongation of fatty acids from endogenous and exogenous sources. Fatty acylation of the luminescence-related synthetase and reductase enzymes responsible for aldehyde synthesis exhibited a chain-length preference for C14:0, which also was indicated by reverse-phase thin-layer chromatography of the acyl groups attached to these enzymes. The ability of V. harveyi to activate and elongate exogenous fatty acids may be related to an adaptive requirement to metabolize intracellular C14:0 generated by the luciferase reaction during luminescence development.