Phosphorescence and optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) measurements have been carried out on the tryptophan (Trp) residues ofEscherichia coli Trp repressor protein (W Rep) and its two single Trp-containing mutants, W19F and W99F. The enhanced resolution afforded by the W19F and W99F mutants allowed us to characterize the triplet state of boundL-Trp corepressor using phosphorescence wavelengt-selected ORMR spectroscopy. We find that at 77 K the 0,0 band peak wavelength ofL-Trp is shifted from 405.5 nm in the aqueous solvent to ca. 410 nm when bound to the corepressor binding site. This red shift of the phosphorescence along with a corresponding increase in the zero-field splittingE value and narrowing of the ODMR linewidth characterize a binding site that is less polar, as well as more polarizable and homogeneous, than the aqueous solvent. This conclusion is in agreement with the X-ray crystallographic structure of the holorepressor protein that places the indole chromophore of the bound corepressor in a cleft in which it is sandwiched by the side chains of arginines 54 and 84.