Mutant of a Light-Driven Sodium Ion Pump Can Transport Cesium Ions

Krokinobacter eikastus rhodopsin 2 (KR2) is a light-driven Na(+) pump found in marine bacterium. KR2 pumps Li(+) and Na(+), but it becomes an H(+) pump in the presence of K(+), Rb(+), and Cs(+). Site-directed mutagenesis of the cytoplasmic surface successfully converted KR2 into a light-driven K(+) pump, suggesting that ion selectivity is determined at the cytoplasmic surface. Here we extended this research and successfully created a...