微生物ロドプシンの多様性と可能性

抄録

One of the major topics in biophysics and physicobiology is to understand and utilize biological functions using various techniques. Rhodopsin is a photoreactive membrane-embedded protein that uses a retinal pigment (vitamin-A aldehyde) as a chromophore. By taking advantages of its photoreactivity, structure-function relationship of rhodopsins has been widely investigated with a variety of methods. Of note, recent rhodopsin research provided unexpected information regarding (i) wide distribution in various organisms, (ii) rich functional diversity and (iii) great potential for optogenetics. Here we review these three topics with future directions.