title: Properties and the primary structure of a new halorhodopsin from halobacterial strain mex.
abstract: A new halorhodopsin-like pigment from the new halobacterial strain mex (Otomo, J., Tomoika, H. and Sasabe, H. (1992) J. Gen. Microbiol. 138, 1027-1037) was partially purified, and its amino acid sequence from helices A to G was determined using PCR technique. Two arginine residues in the A-B interhelix loop segment, a series of six amino acid residues (EMPAGH) in the B-C interhelix segment and most of the residues near the Schiff base of the retinal were found to be conserved in three halorhodopsins (halobium, pharaonis and mex). This result strongly suggests that these residues are essential for anion pumping function in halorhodopsin. The light-induced ion-pump measurements have shown that the selectivity of anion transport between chloride and nitrate in mex halorhodopsin is lower than that of halobium halorhodopsin, but higher than that of pharaonis halorhodopsin. The number of amino acid residues in the B-C interhelix loop segments is different in each halorhodopsin, and it correlates with their anion (chloride and nitrate) selectivity. These results suggest that the length of the B-C segment affects the selectivity of anion transport in halorhodopsin.
authors.affiliation: Frontier Research Program, RIKEN Institute, Saitama, Japan.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Otomo
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tomioka
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sasabe
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001436:Bacteriorhodopsins / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D006217:Halobacterium / Q000737:chemistry*; D025602:Halorhodopsins; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D025602:Halorhodopsins; D001436:Bacteriorhodopsins