Abstract
Pairs of PCR primers that targeted the archae/bacteriorhodopsin gene were used to clone the archaerhodopsin (aR) gene of Halorubrum xinjiangense strain BD-1T, and this gene was sequenced and functionally expressed in Escherichia coli. Recombinant E. coli cells harboring the plasmid carrying this gene became slightly purple or blue depending on whether they were supplemented with all- trans retinal or 3,4-dihydroretinal, respectively, during induction with IPTG. The purple and blue membranes from the recombinant E. coli showed maximal absorption at 555 and 588 nm, respectively, which are different from maximal absorption at 568 nm of the wild-type purple membrane. Purple membranes from the recombinant E. coli and from strain BD-1T were investigated in parallel. The E. coli purple membrane was fabricated into films and photoelectric responses were observed that depended on the light-on and light-off stimuli.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by grants from Chinese Academy of Sciences (KJCX1-SW-07) and from the Ministry of Science and Technology (2004CB719600). Careful reading and constructive suggestions by Prof. Dr. J. K. Lanyi at University of California, Irvine is greatly acknowledged.
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Communicated by W. D. Grant
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Feng, J., Liu, HC., Chu, JF. et al. Genetic cloning and functional expression in Escherichia coli of an archaerhodopsin gene from Halorubrum xinjiangense. Extremophiles 10, 29–33 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-005-0468-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00792-005-0468-x