bioRxiv2020
Channelrhodopsins are light-gated ion channels widely used to control neuronal firing with light (optogenetics). We report two previously unknown families of anion channelrhodopsins (ACRs), one from the heterotrophic protists labyrinthulomycetes and the other from haptophyte algae. Four closely related labyrinthulomycete ACRs, named RubyACRs here, exhibit a unique retinal binding pocket that creates spectral sensitivities with maxima at 590-610 nm, the most red-shifted channelrhodopsins known, long-sought for optogenetics, and more broadly the most red-shifted microbial rhodopsins so far reported. We identified three spectral tuning residues critical for the red-shifted absorption. Photocurrents recorded from the RubyACR from Aurantiochytrium limacinum (designated AlACR1) under single-turnover excitation exhibited biphasic decay, the rate of which was only weakly voltage-dependent, in contrast to that in previously characterized cryptophyte ACRs, indicating differences in channel gating mechanisms between the two ACR families. Moreover, in A. limacinum we identified three ACRs with absorption maxima at 485, 545, and 590 nm, indicating color-sensitive photosensing with blue, green and red spectral variation of ACRs within individual species of the labyrinthulomycete family. We also report energy transfer from a cytoplasmic fluorescent protein domain to the retinal chromophore bound within RubyACRs, not seen in similar constructs in other channelrhodopsins. Significance StatementOur identification and characterization of two ACR families, one from non-photosynthetic microorganisms, shows that light-gated anion conductance is more widely spread among eukaryotic lineages than previously thought. The uniquely far red-shifted absorption spectra of the subset we designate RubyACRs provide the long-sought inhibitory optogenetic tools producing large passive currents activated by long-wavelength light, enabling deep tissue penetration. Previously only low-efficiency ion-pumping rhodopsins were available for neural inhibition by the orange-red region of the spectrum. The unusual amino acid composition of the retinal-binding pocket in RubyACRs expands our understanding of color tuning in retinylidene proteins. Finally, energy transfer from the fluorescent protein used as a tag on RubyACRs opens a potential new dimension in molecular engineering of optogenetic tools.