= B. K. Fung
{c}
<B. K. Fung> is the first author of a 1981 study identifying <transducin> as an amplified intermediary in visual signaling. The team characterized its three types of <protein subunits> and reconstructed membrane preparations containing <rhodopsin> and <transducin>. Illumination promoted binding of a stable <GTP> analogue even when the downstream <phosphodiesterase> was absent.<Flow of information in the light-triggered cyclic nucleotide cascade of vision by B. K. Fung and others>[Abstract: subunit characterization and reconstituted membranes; PNAS 78, 152–156, 1981]{ref}
The researchers then isolated the analogue-bound alpha subunit and found that it activated <phosphodiesterase> on unilluminated membranes. Separating and recombining components helped establish order: <rhodopsin> activates <transducin>, which can activate the <enzyme> acting on <cyclic guanosine monophosphate>. A downstream response after adding an isolated intermediary is stronger evidence of a signaling connection than the mere coexistence of the components.<Flow of information in the light-triggered cyclic nucleotide cascade of vision by B. K. Fung and others>[Abstract: nucleotide binding on the alpha subunit and activation without illumination]{ref}
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