The properties of lumazine proteins purified from the marine bioluminescent bacteria Photobacterium phosphoreum, a psychrophile, and Photobacterium leiognathi, a relatively thermophilic species, are compared. An accurate 1:1 stoichiometry of binding of the ligand 6,7-dimethyl-8-ribityllumazine to each lumazine protein is established by back-titration of the apoprotein with the authentic ligand, using both fluorescence and absorption measurements. Neither protein contains metal cofactors, organic phosphorus, or carbohydrate. Both proteins are anionic and hydrophilic. They each contain a single Trp residue and have blocked amino terminals but otherwise differ in amino acid composition and other properties (P. phosphoreum and P. leiognathi, respectively): Met (internal), 1, 2; Cys, 2, 1; Arg, 4, 7; pI, 4.78 and 4.83, 4.38 and 4.45; Mr, 19 750, 21 300. In the P. phosphoreum protein both Cys residues are accessible, but in the P. leiognathi protein the single Cys is "buried". Modification of this buried Cys and at least one Cys in the P. phosphoreum protein prevents binding of the ligand. The UV and visible absorption spectra of both lumazine proteins denatured in 6 M guanidine hydrochloride can be accurately modeled by using the number of equivalents of the lumazine derivative and blocked aromatic amino acid model compounds determined by chemical and spectrophotometric analyses for Trp, Tyr, and Phe.