Probing visual transduction in a plant cell: Optical recording of rhodopsin-induced structural changes from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

Abstract

Light scattering studies of vertebrate rod cells have greatly aided our understanding of the visual transduction process. This technique has now been successfully applied to study visual transduction in a unicellular alga. Flash-induced light scattering changes have been recorded which are repeatable, graded with photon exposure, and adaptive. They appear on a timescale of 15-1,000 ms and correlate kinetically with flash-induced movement responses. The responsible photoreceptor is a rhodopsin. Evidence is provided for the ability of the organism to count single photons.