The Blue-Green Sensory Rhodopsin SRM from Haloarcula marismortui Attenuates Both Phototactic Responses Mediated by Sensory Rhodopsin I and II in Halobacterium salinarum

Sci Rep. 2019 Apr 5;9(1):5672. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-42193-y.

Abstract

Haloarchaea utilize various microbial rhodopsins to harvest light energy or to mediate phototaxis in search of optimal environmental niches. To date, only the red light-sensing sensory rhodopsin I (SRI) and the blue light-sensing sensory rhodopsin II (SRII) have been shown to mediate positive and negative phototaxis, respectively. In this work, we demonstrated that a blue-green light-sensing (504 nm) sensory rhodopsin from Haloarcula marismortui, SRM, attenuated both positive and negative phototaxis through its sensing region. The H. marismortui genome encodes three sensory rhodopsins: SRI, SRII and SRM. Using spectroscopic assays, we first demonstrated the interaction between SRM and its cognate transducer, HtrM. We then transformed an SRM-HtrM fusion protein into Halobacterium salinarum, which contains only SRI and SRII, and observed that SRM-HtrM fusion protein decreased both positive and negative phototaxis of H. salinarum. Together, our results suggested a novel phototaxis signalling system in H. marismortui comprised of three sensory rhodopsins in which the phototactic response of SRI and SRII were attenuated by SRM.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Archaeal Proteins / metabolism*
  • Haloarcula marismortui / metabolism*
  • Halobacterium salinarum / metabolism*
  • Halorhodopsins / metabolism*
  • Membrane Proteins / metabolism
  • Rhodopsin / metabolism*
  • Sensory Rhodopsins / metabolism*
  • Signal Transduction / physiology

Substances

  • Archaeal Proteins
  • Halorhodopsins
  • Membrane Proteins
  • Sensory Rhodopsins
  • Rhodopsin