Combined effect of the head groups and alkyl chains of archaea lipids when interacting with bacteriorhodopsin

Boolean Logic Gate Operation in Bacteriorhodopsin of Purple Membrane Based on a Molten Globule-like State

Bacteriorhodopsin (bR) of purple membrane (PM) has increasing technical interests, particularly in photonic devices and bioelectronics. The present work has concerned with monitoring the temperature dependence of passive electric responses in-plane and out-of-plane of the membranes. Based on thermal properties observed orthogonally here for PM, a high-temperature intermediate of bR has been suggested to populate at around 60 °C, which may be ascribed to a molten globule-like state. This intermediate has been found to be enclosed between two reversible thermal transitions for PM. Large-scale turnover in the energy of activation, for these two thermal transitions, occurs steeply at such state at 60 °C, above which does bR reverse the sign of dielectric anisotropy (i. e. crossover) provided the operating frequency should be above the crossover frequency, at which the reversal occurs. No such crossover was found to occur below the crossover frequency, even above the crossover temperature (i. e. 60 °C). Likewise, no such crossover was found to occur below the crossover temperature, even above the crossover frequency. Relying on this reasoning, a logic gate operation may be declared implicating bR for bioelectronics and sense technological relevance. In addition, the results specify "dual frequency" as well as "dual temperature" characteristics to bacteriorhodopsin.

Unraveling the multiplicity of geranylgeranyl reductases in Archaea: potential roles in saturation of terpenoids

The enzymology of the key steps in the archaeal phospholipid biosynthetic pathway has been elucidated in recent years. In contrast, the complete biosynthetic pathways for proposed membrane regulators consisting of polyterpenes, such as carotenoids, respiratory quinones, and polyprenols remain unknown. Notably, the multiplicity of geranylgeranyl reductases (GGRs) in archaeal genomes has been correlated with the saturation of polyterpenes. Although GGRs, which are responsible for saturation of the isoprene chains of phospholipids, have been identified and studied in detail, there is little information regarding the structure and function of the paralogs. Here, we discuss the diversity of archaeal membrane-associated polyterpenes which is correlated with the genomic loci, structural and sequence-based analyses of GGR paralogs.

Detection of bacteriorhodopsin trimeric rotation at thermal phase transitions of purple membrane in suspension

Bacteriorhodopsin (bR) of purple membrane (PM) is a retinal protein that forms aggregates in the form of trimers constituting, together with archaeal lipids, the crystalline structure of PM. The rotary motion of bR inside PM may be pertinent in understanding the essence of the crystalline lattice. An attempt has been made to determine the rotation of bR trimers which has been found to be detected solely at thermal phase transitions of PM, namely lipid, crystalline lattice and protein melting phase transitions. The temperature dependences of dielectric versus electronic absorption spectra of bR have been determined. The results suggest that the rotation of bR trimers, together with concomitant bending of PM, are most likely brought by structural changes in bR which might be driven by retinal isomerization and mediated by lipid. The rupturing of the lipid-protein contact might consequently lead to rotation of trimers associated with bending, curling or vesicle formation of PM. So the retinal reorientation may underlie the concomitant rotation of trimers. Most importantly, rotation of trimers might play a role, in terms of the essence of the crystalline lattice, in the functional activity of bR and may serve physiological relevance.