The in vivo regeneration of goldfish rhodopsin and porphyropsin.

Goldfish with retinas rich in either rhodopsin or porphyropsin were illuminated with bright light and then placed in the dark room to allow visual pigment regeneration. The kinetics of this in vivo pigment regeneration were followed by sampling these animals at regular time intervals. The first-order kinetic rate constant for the initial period of porphyropsin regeneration at 20 degrees C was 8.3 X 10(-3) nmol kg-1 body weight min-1 and the half-life of this reaction was 83 min. At 30 degrees C, the rate constant was increased to 1.4 X 10(-2) nmol kg-1 body weight min-1, yielding a reduced half-life of 49 min. This suggests that the Q10 of porphyropsin regeneration is about 1.7. In goldfish retinas enriched with rhodopsin (62% rhodopsin and 38% porphyropsin), the initial phase of visual pigment regeneration (at 30 degrees C) proceeded at a slower rate (first-order rate constant: 6.5 X 10(-3) nmol kg-1 body weight min-1; half-life of reaction = 106 min) than the rate of porphyropsin regeneration. This suggests that the high proportion of rhodopsin in the retina of goldfish held at 30 degrees C is not a direct result of a faster rate of regeneration of rhodopsin than of porphyropsin.