Carbon monoxide was shown to be competitive with O2 in oxygen sensing by perfused carotid bodies isolated from cats, afferent electrical activity increasing with either decreasing O2 or increasing CO. The CO-induced increase in afferent activity was fully reversed by bright light. At submaximal light intensities the extent of reversal, after correcting to equal light intensity of light quanta at each wavelength, was maximal for light of 432 +/- 2 and 590 +/- 2 nm, with a ratio (432/590) of approximately 6. This spectrum is characteristic of the CO compound of mitochondrial cytochrome a3. The photo-reversible inhibition of oxygen sensing activity by CO accounts for at least 80% of the oxygen chemosensory activity of the carotid body.