A purified iodopsin was digested by CNBr or several proteolytic enzymes into fragments, the amino acid sequences of which were determined. A partial sequence of the C-terminal fragment was utilized for synthesizing an oligonucleotide probe which identified the iodopsin cDNA (1339 bases). The deduced amino acid sequence (362 residues) had 80%, 42% or 43% homology to that of human red-sensitive cone pigment, cattle or chicken rhodospin, respectively. Although the hydropathy profile implies that iodopsin, like rhodopsin, has 7 transmembrane α-helical segments, iodopsin may have a hydrophilic pocket near the seventh segment on the basis of the unexpected cleavages in the middle of the segment VII by chymotrypsin under nondenaturing conditions.
