title: Model role for bacteriorhodopsin for solar energy utilization by primordial organisms.
abstract: Enzymes similar in function to contemporary bacteriorhodopsin could have been active in primordial living organisms for the utilization of solar energy to produce ATP. The energy-conversion system, which depends on a light-driven proton pump, is enzymatically simple, insensitive to cyanide inhibition and functional under highly lipid conditions in an anaerobic atmosphere.
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000096:biosynthesis; D001436:Bacteriorhodopsins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002338:Carotenoids / Q000378:metabolism*; D006217:Halobacterium / Q000378:metabolism; D008954:Models, Biological; D013472:Sunlight
chemical_list: D002338:Carotenoids; D001436:Bacteriorhodopsins; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate