Photochromism of Anabaena sensory rhodopsin

Protein-controlled photochemical reactions often mediate biological light-signal and light-energy conversions. Microbial rhodopsins possess all-trans or 13-cis retinal as the chromophore in the dark, and in the light-driven proton pump, bacteriorhodopsin (BR), the stable photoproduct at the end of the functional cycle of the all-trans form is 100% all-trans. In contrast, a microbial rhodopsin discovered in Anabaena PCC7120 is believed to function as a photochromic sensor. For Anabaena sensory rhodopsin (ASR), the photoreaction is expected to be not cyclic, but photochromic. The present low-temperature UV-visible spectroscopy of ASR indeed revealed that the stable photoproduct of the all-trans form in ASR is 100% 13-cis, and that of the 13-cis form is 100% all-trans. The complete photocycle for the proton pump in BR and the complete photochromism for the chromatic sensor of ASR are highly advantageous for their functions. Thus, the microbial rhodopsins have acquired unique photoreactions, in spite of their similar structures, during evolution.