Bacterioopsin-mediated regulation of bacterioruberin biosynthesis in Halobacterium salinarum.

ABSTRACT: Integral membrane protein complexes consisting of proteins and small molecules that act as cofactors have important functions in all organisms. To form functional complexes, cofactor biosynthesis must be coordinated with the production of corresponding apoproteins. To examine this coordination, we study bacteriorhodopsin (BR), a light-induced proton pump in the halophilic archaeon Halobacterium salinarum. This complex consists of a retinal cofactor and bacterioopsin (BO), the BR apoprotein. To examine possible novel regulatory mechanisms linking BO and retinal biosynthesis, we deleted bop, the gene that encodes BO. bop deletion resulted in a dramatic increase of bacterioruberins, carotenoid molecules that share biosynthetic precursors with retinal. Additional studies revealed that bacterio

SUBMITTER: Dummer AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3187228 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature