Abstract
Visual pigments are composed of a small chromophore (absorption center) called retinal (the aldehyde of vitamin A) covalently linked to surrounding protein, called opsin. The pigments are situated in specialized membranes. The best studied, rhodopsin, is found in velebrate rods, the cells of the retina responsible for low light level vision as opposed to color vision. The purple membrane protein of a bacterial cell called halobacterium halobium also contains retinal as its chromophore surrounded by a colorless protein. The absorption of light by visual pigments causes, eventually, a neural response giving rise to vision. Light absorption by the purple membrane results in protons being pumped across the cell wall of the bacterium; the energy of this electral gradient is then used to produce available chemical energy for the cell in terms of high energy chemical bonds (formation of ATP).
Chapter PDF
References
Aton, B., Doukas, A.G., Narva, D., Callender, R.H., Dinur, U., and Honig, B. (1979). Resonance Raman Studies of the Primary Photochemical Event in Visual Pigments. Biophysical J., in the press.
Callender, R.H., Doukas, A., Crouch, R., and Nakinishi, K. (1976). Molecular Flow Resonance Raman Effect from Retinal and Rhodopsin. Biochem. 15: 1621.
Callender, R.H., and Honig, B. (1977). Resonance Raman Studies of Visual Pigment. Ann. Rev. Biophys. and Bioeng. 6: 33.
Callender, R.H. (1978). Techniques of Resonance Raman Spectroscopy of Photoreactive Systems, in: Resonance Raman Spectroscopy as an Analytical Tool, A.J. Melveger, ed., Franklin Institute Press, Philadelphia.
Delbruck, M. (1976). Light and Life III. Carlsberg Research Commun. 41: 299.
Doukas, A.G., Aton, B., Callender, R.H., and Ebrey, T. (1978). Resonance Raman Studies of Bovine Metarhodopsin I and II. Biochem. 17: 2430.
Ebrey, T.G., and Honig, B. (1975). Molecular Aspects of Photoreceptor Function. Q. Rev. Biophys. 8: 124.
Eyring, G., and Mathies, R. (1979). Resonance Raman Studies of Bathorhodopsin: Evidence for a Protonated Schiff Base Linkage. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sei (USA) 76: 33.
Favrot, J., Leclercq, J.M., Roberge, R., Sandorfy, C. and Vocelle, D. (1978). Intermolecular Interactions in Visual Pigments.The Hydrogen Bond in Vision. Photochem. Photobiol. 29: 99.
Gavin, R.M., and Rice, S.A. (1971). Correlation of pi-electron Density and Vibrational Frequencies of Linear Polyenes. J. Chem. Phys. 55: 2675.
Green, B., Monger, T., Alfano, R., Aton, B., and Callender, R.H. (1977). Cis-Trans Isomerization of Rhodopsin Occurs in Picoseconds. Nature 269: 179.
Heyde, M.E., Gill, D., Kilponen, R.G., and Rinai, L. (1971). Raman Spectra of Schiff Bases of Retinal (Models of Visual Photoreceptors). J. Am. Chem. Soc. 93: 6776.
Honig, B., Greenberg, A.D., Dinur, U., and Ebrey, T.G. (1976). Visual Pigment Spectra: Implications of the Retinal Schiff Base. Biochem. 15: 4593.
Honig, B. (1978). Light Energy Transduction in Visual Pigments and Bacteriorhodopsin. Ann. Rev. Phys. Chem. 29: 31.
Honig, B., Ebrey, T., Callender, R.H., Dinur, U., and Ottolenghi, M. (1979). Photoisomerization, Energy Storage, and Charge Separation: A Model for Light Energy Transduction in Visual Pigments and Bacteriorhodopsin. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA), in the press.
Hopfinger, A. (1973). Conformational Properties of Macromolecules. Academic Press, New York, see pp. 59–63.
Hubbard, R., and Kropf, A. (1958). The Action of Light on Rhodopsin. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 44: 130.
Johnson, B.B., and Peticolas, W.L. (1976). The Resonance Raman Effect. Ann. Rev. Phys. Chem. 27: 465.
Lewis, A., Fager, R.S., and Abrahamson, E.W. (1973). Tunable Laser Resonance Raman Spectroscopy of the Visual Process: I. The Spectrum of Rhodopsin. J. Raman Spectr. 1: 145.
Lewis, A., Marcus, M.A., Ehrenberg, B., and Crespi, H. (1978). Experimental Evidence for Secondary Protein-Chromophore Interaction at the Schiff base linkage in Bacteriorhodopsin. Molecular Mechanism for Proton Dumping. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 75: 4642.
Lewis, A. (1978). The Molecular Mechanism of Excitation in Visual Transduction and Bacteriorhodopsin. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 75: 549.
Mathies, R., Oseroff, A.R., and Stryer, L. (1976). Rapid-Flow Resonance Raman Spectroscopy of Photolabile Molecules: Rhodopsin and Isorhodopsin. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 73: 1.
Mathies, R., Freedman, T.B., and Stryer, L. (1977). Resonance Raman Studies of the Conformation of Retinal in Rhodopsin and Isorhodopsin. J. Mol. Biol. 109: 367.
Mathies, R. (1979). Biological Applications of Resonance Raman Spectroscopy in the Visible and Ultraviolet: Visual Pigments, Purple Membrane, and Nucleic Acis, in: Chemical and Biochemical Applications of Lasers, C.B. Moore, ed., Academic Press, New York.
Oseroff, A.R., and Callender, R.H. (1974). Resonance Raman Spectroscopy of Rhodopsin in Retinal Disk Membranes. Biochem. 13: 4243.
Peters, K., Applebury, M.L., Rentzepis, P.M. (1977). Primary Photochemical Event in Vision: Proton Translocation. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 74: 3119.
Pettei, M.J., Yudd, A.P., Nakanishi, K., Henselman, R., and Stoeckenius, W. (1977). Identification of Retinal Isomers Isolated from Bacteriorhodopsin. Biochem. 16: 1955.
Rinai, L., Gill, D., and Parsons, J.I. (1971). Raman Spectra of Dilute Solutions of Some Stereoisomers of Vitamin A Type Molecule. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 93: 1353.
Rosenfeld, T., Honig, B., Ottolenghi, M., and Ebrey, T.G. (1977). Cis-Trans Isomerization in th Photochemistry of Vision. Pure Appl. Chem. 49: 341.
Spiro, T. (1974). Biological Applications of Resonance Raman Spectroscopy: Haem Protein. Acc. Chemical Res. 7: 339.
Van der Meer, K. Mulder, J.J.C., and Lugtenberg, J. (1976). A New Facet in Rhodopsin Photochemistry. Photochem. Photo Biol. 24: 363.
Warshel, A. (1977). Interpretation of Resonance Raman Spectra of Biological Molecules. Ann. Rev. Biophys. and Bioeng. 6: 273.
Warshel, A. (1978). Charge Stabilization Mechanism in Visual and Purple Membrane Pigments. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.(USA) 75: 2558.
Yoshizawa, T., and Wald, G. (1963). Prelumirhodopsin and the Bleaching of Visual Pigments. Nature (London) 197: 1279.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1979 Plenum Press, New York
About this paper
Cite this paper
Callender, R. (1979). Resonance Raman Studies of Visual Pigments. In: Birman, J.L., Cummins, H.Z., Rebane, K.K. (eds) Light Scattering in Solids. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7350-0_39
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7350-0_39
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-7352-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-7350-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive