Biomaterial Database

Photosensory retinal pigments in Halobacterium halobium. 1980

W Sperling, and A Schimz

In Halobacterium halobium, nicotine is known to block the synthesis of retinal. Cells grown in the presence of nicotine do not show any photophobic response. Addition of retinal1 or retinal2 restored the photophobic responses to light-increase in the UV and to light-decrease in the green-yellow part of the spectrum. The action spectra of the two retinal2-photosystems were red-shifted by 15--20 nm, compared with the corresponding retinal1 systems. We conclude that each of the two photosystems PS 370 and PS 565, has its own photosensory pigment with retinal as the chromophoric group.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008027	Light	That portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the visible, ultraviolet, and infrared range.	Light, Visible,Photoradiation,Radiation, Visible,Visible Radiation,Photoradiations,Radiations, Visible,Visible Light,Visible Radiations
D009538	Nicotine	Nicotine is highly toxic alkaloid. It is the prototypical agonist at nicotinic cholinergic receptors where it dramatically stimulates neurons and ultimately blocks synaptic transmission. Nicotine is also important medically because of its presence in tobacco smoke.	Nicotine Bitartrate,Nicotine Tartrate
D010775	Photic Stimulation	Investigative technique commonly used during ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHY in which a series of bright light flashes or visual patterns are used to elicit brain activity.	Stimulation, Photic,Visual Stimulation,Photic Stimulations,Stimulation, Visual,Stimulations, Photic,Stimulations, Visual,Visual Stimulations
D010860	Pigments, Biological	Any normal or abnormal coloring matter in PLANTS; ANIMALS or micro-organisms.	Biological Pigments
D002338	Carotenoids	The general name for a group of fat-soluble pigments found in green, yellow, and leafy vegetables, and yellow fruits. They are aliphatic hydrocarbons containing 4 terpene subunits.	Carotenes,Carotenoid,Tetraterpene Derivatives,Tetraterpenes,Carotene,Derivatives, Tetraterpene
D006217	Halobacterium	A genus of HALOBACTERIACEAE whose growth requires a high concentration of salt. Binary fission is by constriction.
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D001436	Bacteriorhodopsins	Rhodopsins found in the PURPLE MEMBRANE of halophilic archaea such as HALOBACTERIUM HALOBIUM. Bacteriorhodopsins function as an energy transducers, converting light energy into electrochemical energy via PROTON PUMPS.	Bacteriorhodopsin
D012172	Retinaldehyde	A diterpene derived from the carotenoid VITAMIN A which functions as the active component of the visual cycle. It is the prosthetic group of RHODOPSIN (i.e., covalently bonded to ROD OPSIN as 11-cis-retinal). When stimulated by visible light, rhodopsin transforms this cis-isomer of retinal to the trans-isomer (11-trans-retinal). This transformation straightens-out the bend of the retinal molecule and causes a change in the shape of rhodopsin triggering the visual process. A series of energy-requiring enzyme-catalyzed reactions convert the 11-trans-retinal back to the cis-isomer.	11-trans-Retinal,3,7-dimethyl-9-(2,6,6-trimethyl-1-cyclohexen-1-yl)-2,4,6,8-Nonatetraenal,Axerophthal,Retinal,Retinene,Retinyl Aldehydde,Vitamin A Aldehyde,all-trans-Retinal,11-cis-Retinal,11 cis Retinal,11 trans Retinal,Aldehydde, Retinyl,Aldehyde, Vitamin A,all trans Retinal
D013053	Spectrophotometry	The art or process of comparing photometrically the relative intensities of the light in different parts of the spectrum.