The photoconversion of lumirhodopsin at 77 degrees K. Estimation of the quantum efficiency.

Evidence is presented that lumirhodopsin (containing all-trans retinal) is not directly photoconverted to bathorhodopsin (all-trans) at 77 degrees K as previously suggested (Yoshizawa and Wald. 1963. Nature (Lond.) 197:1279-1286). Rather, lumirhodopsin is converted to a new species, L' (11-cis and/or 9-cis retinal) which, on warming to room temperature, is indistinguishable from rhodopsin or isorhodopsin. The quantum efficiency for the conversion of lumirhodopsin to L' is estimated to be 0.5 +/- 0.1. This value is significantly higher than that of other all-trans to cis conversions for bovine rhodopsin intermediates, indicating that the opsin conformation has a significant effect on a pigment's quantum efficiency.