Light-induced formation of the 410 nm intermediate from reconstituted bacteriorhodopsin.

Light-induced formation of the 410 nm intermediate was investigated with reconstituted bacteriorhodopsin. Only bacteriorhodopsin with all-trans retinal formed the 410 nm intermediate in response to light excitation. In equilibrium in the dark, both native and reconstituted bacteriorhodopsin contained about equal amounts of the all-trans and 13-cis forms over a wide range of temperature.