A new template for rhodopsin (vitamin A1 based) visual pigments.

A new template curve for rhodopsin visual pigments is presented. The template was constructed from absorbance spectra of purified bovine rhodopsin with an abscissa transform of lambda max/lambda. Absorbance curves generated from the template are compared with absorbance spectra of visual pigments measured in situ in single cells by microspectrophotometry (msp). The template was found to agree well with msp data which included visual pigments with lambda max values ranging from 450 to 570 nm. A cubic polynomial is given by which the new template may be fitted to the long wavelength limb of visual pigment data. A Chebyshev polynomial is also given which models the new template with a high degree of accuracy. This polynomial provides a convenient method for the computer generation of visual pigment absorbance curves.