Sensory rhodopsin II: functional insights from structure

Atomic resolution structures of a sensory rhodopsin phototaxis receptor in haloarchaea (the first sensory member of the widespread microbial rhodopsin family) have yielded insights into the interaction face with its membrane-embedded transducer and into the mechanism of spectral tuning. Spectral differences between sensory rhodopsin and the light-driven proton pump bacteriorhodopsin depend largely upon the repositioning of a conserved arginine residue in the chromophore-binding pocket. Information derived from the structures, combined with biophysical and biochemical analysis, has established a model for receptor activation and signal relay, in which light-induced helix tilting in the receptor is transmitted to the transducer by lateral transmembrane helix-helix interactions.