Incorporation into lipid bilayer membranes of a photo--sensitive pigment from the honeybee compound eye.

An increase of electrical conductance up to a factor 10(2)--5-10(2) was obtained by adding, in the dark, the honeybee photopigment to a positively charged lipid bilayer. The increase in conductance was made slower by illuminating the system during the incorporation of the protein into the membrane and it was negligible when the photopigment was bleached before the incorporation. The interaction of the photopigment with the membrane is tentatively interpreted in terms of formation of channels.