1. Flash photolysis of caged cyclic nucleotides was used to examine the contribution of the ciliary cyclic nucleotide-gated conductance to olfactory transduction in the tiger salamander. Brief illumination of solitary olfactory receptor cells loaded with 100 microM caged cyclic AMP caused a large inward current (peak amplitude 355 +/- 200 pA; mean +/- S.D. for eleven cells) under whole-cell voltage clamp at -50 mV. 2. The photolysis response was initiated after a latency of 4-12 ms, whereas an odorant response of identical amplitude had a latency of several hundred milliseconds. The amplitudes of both responses exhibited almost identical voltage dependence between -50 and +25 mV, with both reversing near 0 mV. The time courses of the falling phases of odorant and photolysis responses also exhibited similar voltage dependence, both being prolonged at positive voltages. 3. Photolysis of caged cyclic GMP activated a current similar in amplitude and time course to that produced by photolysis of caged cyclic AMP. 4. When the flash was spatially limited to the cilia, the amplitude and duration of the photolysis response increased linearly with the length of the cilia illuminated (for cilia not longer than 30-40 microns) while the latency remained constant at 4-12 ms. The increase in duration was described semi-quantitatively by a model which incorporated diffusion and saturable hydrolysis of cyclic AMP. When the flash was limited to the soma or proximal dendrite, the response latency was proportional to the square of the distance between the illuminated region and the cilia. 5. Dialysis of cells with 500 microM cyclic AMP from a whole-cell electrode under voltage clamp activated a large transient inward current. Simultaneous suction electrode recording showed that this current originated almost entirely from the ciliary membrane. The density of cyclic nucleotide-gated channels was estimated to be 800-fold higher in the cilia than in the soma. 6. Summation of simultaneous odorant and photolysis responses was non-linear, the flash-induced current being enhanced during a small odorant response and attenuated during a large odorant response. Summation of two photolysis responses was similarly non-linear. The data were consistent with odorant stimuli and cyclic AMP both activating a common cyclic nucleotide-gated conductance with a Hill coefficient, n, of 2.0-4.4. For n = 2.5, the basal cyclic AMP concentration was estimated to be less than 20% of the K 1/2, which predicts a basal current of 5.8 pA, less than 2% of the maximum.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)