The thermal origin of spontaneous activity in the Limulus photoreceptor

1. Discrete depolarizations of the photoreceptor cell membrane called discrete waves occur spontaneously and in response to illumination in the eye of the horseshoe crab, Limulus. Each light induced discrete wave is caused by the absorption of a single photon.2. The frequencies of spontaneous and light induced discrete waves were studied at different temperatures from 0 to 25 degrees C using a new method of counting them to avoid errors due to their temporal overlap.3. The frequency of spontaneous discrete waves followed the Arrhenius relationship with activation energy equal to 48.6 kcal.4. The frequency of the discrete waves caused by a fixed level of steady illumination was not significantly changed when the temperature of the cell was changed.5. The relationship of the frequency of spontaneous discrete waves to temperature was compared to a prediction based on the relationship of the quantum relative spectral sensitivity of the Limulus eye to the temperature of the eye. The prediction was in good agreement with observation and suggests that spontaneous discrete waves result from thermally induced cis to trans isomerizations of visual pigment molecules.