Summary
The photochemical cycle of the visual pigment molecules in the blowflyCalliphora erythrocephala was investigated by transmission measurements, making use of the fact that intermediate states of the visual pigment molecules each have a characteristic absorption spectrum.
It is shown that the conversion of metaxanthopsin (M 580) to the native xanthopsin state (P 490) induced by an orange-red light pulse proceeds through a newly discovered intermediate (N), which thermally decays with a time constant of about 13 ms at room temperature.
The absorption spectrum of N peaks in the blue-green at about 490 nm. In the green and orange N absorbs more strongly than the native xanthopsin, but in the blue N and xanthopsin absorb almost equally. The latter finding explains why N has remained undetected in earlier studies.
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Abbreviations
- ERP :
-
early receptor potential
- M :
-
metaxanthopsin
- P :
-
xanthopsin
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Roebroek, J.G.H., Gagné, S. & Stavenga, D.G. Photoreconversion of blowfly visual pigment proceeds through a slowly (13 ms) decaying intermediate. J. Comp. Physiol. 165, 75–81 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00613801
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00613801