OCTOPUS RHODOPSIN PHOTOREVERSIBILITY OF A CRUDE EXTRACT FROM WHOLE RETINA OVER SEVERAL WEEKS DURATION

A lipid/detergent micellar crude extract from whole octopus retinas wh en illuminated with blue light under slightly acidic conditions of pH 6.7 produces acid metarhodopsin that can be quantitatively converted t o rhodopsin with red light. The octopus rhodopsin in detergent micelle s was recycled at 25 degrees C at least 50 times over a period of seve ral weeks. This material has characteristics similar to some bacterior hodopsin mutants. With improved stability and genetic modification, th e invertebrate-retinal-containing protein may be a candidate for infor mation storage and retrieval material. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Limited.