Hydrogen bonding network in channel- and other rhodopsins and phytochromes analyzed by site-directed mutagenesis and labeling (B04)

• Subject Area: Biophysics
• Term: since 2013
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 221545957

We will comparatively study the protonation dynamics of two different channelrhodopsins, CaChR1 and GtACR1, the inverted proton pump NsXeR and the chloride pump NmHR in a combination of mutagenesis, time-resolved UV/Vis-, steady-state FTIR difference spectroscopy and structural methods. Local electrical field changes will be observed via VSE probes inserted into the two pumps and into phytochromes. In the complex of HsSRI and HsHtrI, we will study the structural changes involved in signal transfer.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1078: Protonation Dynamics in Protein Function
• Applicant Institution: Freie Universität Berlin
• Project Heads: Professor Dr. Robert Bittl, until 12/2020; Dr. Ramona Schlesinger