Photo-initiated functional dynamics of retinal proteins (P12)

• Subject Area: Biophysics
• Term: from 2008 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 57566863

The photo-initiated dynamics of rhodopsins will be investigated with spectroscopic techniques covering a wide temporal and spectral bandwidth. The results will be correlated with ion transport. We like to understand the coupling of the retinal with the channels gates in ChR2; we look into the specific properties of KR2 that turns this molecule into a light-driven sodium pump; and we investigate multi-photon processes in rhodopsins that can be exploited to control transport activity or to increase fluorescence intensities. To this end, we will develop rational strategies to gain a deeper understanding of light-induced transport in this class of proteins.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 807: Transport and Communication across Biological Membrans
• Applicant Institution: Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
• Project Heads: Dr. Christian Bamann, from 7/2016 until 6/2019; Professor Dr. Josef Wachtveitl