Na+-Translocating Rhodopsin from Dokdonia sp. PRO95 Does Not Contain Carotenoid Antenna

Carotenoid-binding properties of Na+-translocating rhodopsin (NaR) from Dokdonia sp. PRO95 were studied. Carotenoids were extracted from Dokdonia sp. PRO95 cells. It was found that zeaxanthin is the predominant carotenoid of this bacterium. Incubation of recombinant NaR purified from Escherichia coli cells with carotenoids from Dokdonia sp. PRO95 did not result in any changes in optical absorption or circular dichroism spectra, indicating the absence of binding of the carotenoids by NaR. The same results were obtained using salinixanthin as the carotenoid. These data along with genome analysis of Dokdonia sp. PRO95 and other flavobacteria indicate that NaR from Dokdonia sp. PRO95 and possibly the other flavobacterial Na+-translocating rhodopsins do not contain a carotenoid antenna.