Retinal to Retinal Energy Transfer in a Bistable Microbial Rhodopsin Dimer.

ABSTRACT: Neorhodopsin (NeoR) is a newly discovered fungal bistable rhodopsin that reversibly photoswitches between UV- and near-IR absorbing states denoted NeoR₃₆₇ and NeoR₆₉₀, respectively. NeoR₃₆₇ represents a deprotonated retinal Schiff base (RSB), while NeoR₆₉₀ represents a protonated RSB. Cryo-EM studies indicate that NeoR forms homodimers with 29 Å center-to-center distance between the retinal chromophores. UV excitation of NeoR₃₆₇ takes place to an optically allowed S3 state of 1B_u⁺ symmetry, which rapidly converts to a low-lying optically forbidden S1 state of 2A_g^- symmetry in 39 fs, followed by a multiexponential decay to the ground state on the 1-100 ps time scale. A theoretically predicted

SUBMITTER: van Stokkum IHM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12046560 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature