The basis of the duplex theory of vision is examined in view of the dazzling array of data on visual pigment sequences and the pigments they form, on the microspectrophotometry measurements of single photoreceptor cells, on the kinds of photoreceptor cascade enzymes, and on the electrophysiological properties of photoreceptors. The implications of the existence of five distinct visual pigment families are explored, especially with regard to what pigments are in what types of photoreceptors, if there are different phototransduction enzymes associated with different types of photoreceptors, and if there are electrophysiological differences between different types of cones.

The pH dependence of the rate constant of dark adaptation (thermal isomerization from all-trans- to 13-cis-bR) drastically changes when Arg82 of bacteriorhodopsin is replaced by an alanine. In the wild type (WT) the rate decreases sharply between pH 2.5 and pH 5. In R82A the sharp decrease is shifted to pH > 7. This correlates with the shift in the pK of the purple-to-blue transition from pH 2.6 in the wild type to pH 7.2 in the mutant (in 150 mM KCl). We propose that the same group that controls the purple-to-blue transition, namely, Asp85, catalyzes dark adaptation. The rate of dark adaptation in the R82A mutant is proportional to the fraction of protonated Asp85, indicating that dark adaptation occurs when Asp85 is transiently protonated. Thermal isomerization is at least 2 x 10(3) times more likely when Asp85 is protonated (blue membrane) than when it is deprotonated (purple membrane). The pH dependence of dark adaptation in the WT can be explained by a model in which the rate of dark adaptation in the WT is also proportional to the fraction of protonated Asp85 and that the pK of Asp85 depends on some other group, X, which deprotonates (or moves away from Asp85) with pK9 and causes the shift in the pK of Asp85 from 2.6 to 7.2. The quantum yield of light adaptation is at least an order of magnitude less in R82A as compared to the WT. The rise time of M formation is very fast in R82A and, unlike the WT, pH independent (1 microsecond versus 85 and 6 microseconds in the WT at pH 7 and 10, respectively). The activation energy of the L to M transition is 6.9 kcal/mol versus 13.5 kcal/mol in the WT. Thus the loss of a positive charge in the active site greatly increases the rate of light-induced deprotonation of the Schiff base. In the R82A mutant, the M decay at pH > 8.8 is much faster than the recovery of initial bR, which suggests a decrease in the rate of back-reaction from N to M. In a suspension of R82A membranes the rate of proton release as measured by the pH-sensitive dye pyranine is delayed by at least 20-fold (in 2 M KCl), while the uptake of protons did not change much (12 ms in the WT versus 8 ms in R82A).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Titration of Asp-85, the proton acceptor and part of the counterion in bacteriorhodopsin, over a wide pH range (2-11) leads us to the following conclusions: 1) Asp-85 has a complex titration curve with two values of pKa; in addition to a main transition with pKa = 2.6 it shows a second inflection point at high pH (pKa = 9.7 in 150-mM KCl). This complex titration behavior of Asp-85 is explained by interaction of Asp-85 with an ionizable residue X'. As follows from the fit of the titration curve of Asp-85, deprotonation of X' increases the proton affinity of Asp-85 by shifting its pKa from 2.6 to 7.5. Conversely, protonation of Asp-85 decreases the pKa of X' by 4.9 units, from 9.7 to 4.8. The interaction between Asp-85 and X' has important implications for the mechanism of proton transfer. In the photocycle after the formation of M intermediate (and protonation of Asp-85) the group X' should release a proton. This deprotonated state of X' would stabilize the protonated state of Asp-85.2) Thermal isomerization of the chromophore (dark adaptation) occurs on transient protonation of Asp-85 and formation of the blue membrane. The latter conclusion is based on the observation that the rate constant of dark adaptation is directly proportional to the fraction of blue membrane (in which Asp-85 is protonated) between pH 2 and 11. The rate constant of isomerization is at least 10(4) times faster in the blue membrane than in the purple membrane. The protonated state of Asp-85 probably is important for the catalysis not only of all-trans <=> 13-cis thermal isomerization during dark adaptation but also of the reisomerization of the chromophore from 13-cis to all-trans configuration during N-->O-->bR transition in the photocycle. This would explain why Asp-85 stays protonated in the N and O intermediates.

The individual resonance Raman spectra of the PM568 and M412 forms of light-adapted purple membrane from Halobacterium halobium have been measured using the newly developed flow technique. For comparison purposes, the Raman spectra of the model chromophores, all-trans- and 13-cis retinal n-butylamine, both as protonated and unprotonated Schiff bases, have also been obtained. In agreement with previous work, the Raman data indicate that the retinal chromophore is linked to the purple membrane protein via a protonated. Schiff base in the case of the PM568 and an unprotonated Schiff base for the M412 form. The basic mechanism for color regulation in both forms appears to be electron delocalization. The spectral features of the two forms are different from each other and different from the model compound spectra.

To explore the role of Arg82 in the catalysis of proton transfer in bacteriorhodopsin, we replaced Arg82 with Lys, which is also positively charged at neutral pH but has an intrinsic pKa of about 1.7 pH units lower than that of Arg. In the R82K mutant expressed in Halobacterium salinarium, we found the following: (1) The pKa of the purple-to-blue transition at low pH (which reflects the pKa of Asp85) is 3.6 +/- 0.1. At high pH a second inflection in the blue-to-purple transition with pKa = 8.0 is found. The complex titration behavior of Asp85 indicates that the pKa of Asp85 depends on the protonation state of another amino acid residue, X', which has a pKa = 8.0 in R82K. The fit of the experimental data to a model of two interacting residues shows that deprotonation of X' at high pH causes a shift in the pKa of Asp85 from 3.7 to 6.0. In turn, protonation of Asp85 decreases the pKa of X' by 2.3 pH units. This suggests that X' can release a proton upon formation of the M intermediate and the concomitant protonation of Asp85 in the photocycle. (2) The rate constant of dark adaptation, kda, is proportional to the fraction of blue membrane between pH 2 and 10, indicating that thermal isomerization proceeds through the transient protonation of Asp85. The pH dependence of kda shows that two groups with pKal = 3.9 and pKa2 = 8.0 control the rate of dark adaptation in R82K. The 1.7 pH unit shift in pKa2 in R82K compared to the wild type (WT) (pKa2 = 9.7) supports the hypothesis that X' is Arg82 in WT and Lys82 in R82K (or at least that these groups are the principal part of a cluster of residues that constitute X'). (3) Under steady state illumination, the efficiency of proton transport in R82K incorporated in phosphatidylcholine vesicles is at least 40% of that in the WT. A flash-induced transient signal of the pH-sensitive dye pyranine is similar to that in the WT (proton release precedes uptake), but the amplitude is small in R82K (about 15% of that found in the WT), indicating that only a small fraction of protons is released fast in R82K. This supports the suggestions that Arg82 is associated with the proton release pathway (acts as a proton release group or part of a proton release complex) and that Lys cannot efficiently substitute for Arg in this process.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)