Aquatic bacterial rhodopsin proton pumps harvest light energy for photoheterotrophic growth and are known to contain hydroxylated carotenoids that expand the wavelengths of light utilized, but these have not been characterized in marine archaea. Here, by combining a marine chromophore extract with purified archaeal rhodopsins identified in marine metagenomes, we show light energy transfer from diverse hydroxylated carotenoids to heimdallarchaeial rhodopsins (HeimdallRs) from uncultured marine planktonic members of 'Candidatus Kariarchaeaceae' ('Candidatus Asgardarchaeota'). These light-harvesting antennas absorb in the blue-light range and transfer energy to the green-light-absorbing retinal chromophore within HeimdallRs, enabling the use of light that is otherwise unavailable to the rhodopsin. Furthermore, we show elevated proton pumping by the antennas in HeimdallRs under white-light illumination, which better simulates the light conditions encountered by these archaea in their natural habitats. Our results indicate that light-harvesting antennas in microbial rhodopsins exist in families beyond xanthorhodopsins and proteorhodopsins and are present in both marine bacteria and archaea.

• MeSH
• Archaea * metabolismus   genetika   chemie   MeSH
• archeální proteiny * metabolismus   chemie   genetika   MeSH
• fylogeneze MeSH
• karotenoidy metabolismus   chemie   MeSH
• metagenom MeSH
• mořská voda mikrobiologie   MeSH
• přenos energie MeSH
• rhodopsiny mikrobiální * chemie   metabolismus   MeSH
• rodopsin * chemie   metabolismus   MeSH
• světlo MeSH
• světlosběrné proteinové komplexy * chemie   metabolismus   MeSH
• vodní organismy metabolismus   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Názvy látek
• archeální proteiny * MeSH
• karotenoidy MeSH
• rhodopsiny mikrobiální * MeSH
• rodopsin * MeSH
• světlosběrné proteinové komplexy * MeSH

Rhodopsins are widely distributed across all domains of life where they perform a plethora of functions through the conversion of electromagnetic radiation into physicochemical signals. As a result of an extensive survey of available genomic and metagenomic sequencing data, we reported the existence of novel clades and exotic sequence motifs scattered throughout the evolutionary radiations of both Type-1 and Type-3 rhodopsins that will likely enlarge the optogenetics toolbox. We expanded the typical rhodopsin blueprint by showing that a highly conserved and functionally important arginine residue (i.e., Arg82) was substituted multiple times during evolution by an extensive amino acid spectrum. We proposed the umbrella term Alt-rhodopsins (AltRs) for all such proteins that departed Arg82 orthodoxy. Some AltRs formed novel clades in the rhodopsin phylogeny and were found in giant viruses. Some newly uncovered AltRs were phylogenetically close to heliorhodopsins, which allowed a closer examination of the phylogenetic border between Type-1 rhodopsins and heliorhodopsins. Comprehensive phylogenetic trees and ancestral sequence reconstructions allowed us to advance the hypothesis that proto-heliorhodopsins were a eukaryotic innovation before their subsequent diversification into the extant Type-3 rhodopsins. IMPORTANCE The rhodopsin scaffold is remarkably versatile and widespread, coupling light availability to energy production and other light-dependent cellular responses with minor alterations to critical residues. We described an unprecedented spectrum of substitutions at one of the most conserved amino acids in the rhodopsin fold, Arg82. We denoted such phylogenetically diverse rhodopsins with the umbrella name Alt-rhodopsins (AltR) and described a distinct branch of AltRs in giant viruses. Intriguingly, some AltRs were the closest phylogenetic neighbors to Heliorhodopsins (HeRs) whose origins have remained enigmatic. Our analyses of HeR origins in the light of AltRs led us to posit a most unusual evolutionary trajectory that suggested a eukaryotic origin for HeRs before their diversification in prokaryotes.

• Klíčová slova
• Alt-rhodopsins, AltRs, heliorhodopsins, metagenomics, optogenetics, rhodopsins,
• MeSH
• fylogeneze MeSH
• rhodopsiny mikrobiální * genetika   MeSH
• rodopsin * genetika   MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• rhodopsiny mikrobiální * MeSH
• rodopsin * MeSH

Rhodopsins, most of which are proton pumps generating transmembrane electrochemical proton gradients, span all three domains of life, are abundant in the biosphere, and could play a crucial role in the early evolution of life on earth. Whereas archaeal and bacterial proton pumps are among the best structurally characterized proteins, rhodopsins from unicellular eukaryotes have not been well characterized. To fill this gap in the current understanding of the proton pumps and to gain insight into the evolution of rhodopsins using a structure-based approach, we performed a structural and functional analysis of the light-driven proton pump LR (Mac) from the pathogenic fungus Leptosphaeria maculans. The first high-resolution structure of fungi rhodopsin and its functional properties reveal the striking similarity of its membrane part to archaeal but not to bacterial rhodopsins. We show that an unusually long N-terminal region stabilizes the protein through direct interaction with its extracellular loop (ECL2). We compare to our knowledge all available structures and sequences of outward light-driven proton pumps and show that eukaryotic and archaeal proton pumps, most likely, share a common ancestor.

• MeSH
• fylogeneze MeSH
• iontový transport MeSH
• proteinové domény MeSH
• protonové pumpy chemie   MeSH
• rodopsin chemie   fyziologie   MeSH
• světlo MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• protonové pumpy MeSH
• rodopsin MeSH