Abstract
Fast displacement photocurrents have been reported in bacteriorhodopsin model membranes by several groups of investigators since 1977. A fast component (B1) is associated with positive charge displacement in the direction opposite to that of a physiological proton translocation. A slower component (B2) of opposite polarity is associated with positive charge displacement in the same direction as the proton translocation. Using two slightly different methods for model membrane formation, we observed photosignals with or without a significant B2 component under appropriate conditions. By means of the tunable voltage clamp method of measurement (Hong, F.T., and D. Mauzerall, 1974, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 71:1564-1568) we demonstrated that the time course of the B1 signal is completely predictable by an equivalent circuit containing a chemical capacitance. From the equivalent circuit analysis, we obtained a first-order relaxation time constant of 12.3 +/- 0.7 microseconds at room temperature. We also found a slight temperature dependence of the B1 relaxation with an activation energy of 2.54 +/- 0.24 kcal/mol. We found no pH dependence of the B1 component in the range of 0 to 11, whereas the B2 component is diminishing in a graded manner when the pH is varied from 0 to 10. These results are diametrically different from what reported previously (Drachev, L.A., A.D. Kaulen, L.V. Khitrina, and V.P. Skulachev, 1981, Eur. J. Biochem., 117:461-470). Our results support the interpretation that the B1 component is generated by an intramolecular charge displacement accompanying the light-induced reactions of bacteriorhodopsin and that the B2 component is generated by a process of proton uptake from the intracellular aqueous phase and subsequent release into the same aqueous phase. The impact of the present results on the conventional practice of identifying photointermediates of bacteriorhodopsin by spectroscopic means is discussed.