%0 Journal Article
%A Zabelskii, Dmitrii
%A Alekseev, Alexey
%A Kovalev, Kirill
%A Rankovic, Vladan
%A Balandin, Taras
%A Soloviov, Dmytro
%A Bratanov, Dmitry
%A Savelyeva, Ekaterina
%A Podolyak, Elizaveta
%A Volkov, Dmytro
%A Vaganova, Svetlana
%A Astashkin, Roman
%A Chizhov, Igor
%A Yutin, Natalia
%A Rulev, Maksim
%A Popov, Alexander
%A Eria-Oliveira, Ana-Sofia
%A Rokitskaya, Tatiana
%A Mager, Thomas
%A Antonenko, Yuri
%A Rosselli, Riccardo
%A Armeev, Grigoriy
%A Shaitan, Konstantin
%A Vivaudou, Michel
%A Büldt, Georg
%A Rogachev, Andrey
%A Rodriguez-Valera, Francisco
%A Kirpichnikov, Mikhail
%A Moser, Tobias
%A Offenhäusser, Andreas
%A Willbold, Dieter
%A Koonin, Eugene
%A Bamberg, Ernst
%A Gordeliy, Valentin
%T Viral rhodopsins 1 are an unique family of light-gated cation channels
%J Nature Communications
%V 11
%N 1
%@ 2041-1723
%C [London]
%I Nature Publishing Group UK
%M FZJ-2020-04786
%P 5707
%D 2020
%X Phytoplankton is the base of the marine food chain as well as oxygen and carbon cycles and thus plays a global role in climate and ecology. Nucleocytoplasmic Large DNA Viruses that infect phytoplankton organisms and regulate the phytoplankton dynamics encompass genes of rhodopsins of two distinct families. Here, we present a functional and structural characterization of two proteins of viral rhodopsin group 1, OLPVR1 and VirChR1. Functional analysis of VirChR1 shows that it is a highly selective, Na+/K+-conducting channel and, in contrast to known cation channelrhodopsins, it is impermeable to Ca2+ ions. We show that, upon illumination, VirChR1 is able to drive neural firing. The 1.4 Å resolution structure of OLPVR1 reveals remarkable differences from the known channelrhodopsins and a unique ion-conducting pathway. Thus, viral rhodopsins 1 represent a unique, large group of light-gated channels (viral channelrhodopsins, VirChR1s). In nature, VirChR1s likely mediate phototaxis of algae enhancing the host anabolic processes to support virus reproduction, and therefore, might play a major role in global phytoplankton dynamics. Moreover, VirChR1s have unique potential for optogenetics as they lack possibly noxious Ca2+ permeability.
%F PUB:(DE-HGF)16
%9 Journal Article
%$ pmid:33177509
%U <Go to ISI:>//WOS:000593975100009
%R 10.1038/s41467-020-19457-7
%U https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/888237