The gecko visual pigment: the chromophore dark exchange reaction

This study confirms the occurrence of a dark-exchange reaction in the extracted 521-pigment of the Tokay gecko (G. gekko). The present study involved the exchange, in the dark, of the natural 11-cis-chromophore by the 9-cis-10-F-retinal analog. This analog is able to combine with the 521-opsin to regenerate a photopigment at 492 nm. In addition to this shift in absorbance from 521 to 492 nm, the analog photopigment has a photosensitivity some 2.4% that of the native 521-system in the chloride-sufficient state. These two properties of the regenerated analog pigment have simplified the demonstration of a dark exchange of chromophores. At 15 degrees C the 9-cis-10-F-analog replaces the 11-cis-chromophore by at least 30% (density-wise) in about 15 hr. This exchange occurs with the system in the chloride-deficient state. The presence of chloride during the period in the dark significantly reduces the magnitude of the exchange. Apparently, the protein has a more open structure at the chromophoric binding site, allowing this interchange of chromophores. The addition of chloride induces a conformational change at this site, 'burying' the Schiff base and reducing the exchange reaction. The biological implication of this mobile property of the gecko opsin is that it is similar to the behavior of the cone pigment iodopsin but is unlike that of rhodopsins. This supports the idea that the gecko visual cells, despite their appearance as rods, are phylogenetically related to ancestral photopic receptors.