bacteriorhodopsin

American  

[bak-teer-ee-oh-roh-dop-sin] / bækˌtɪər i oʊ roʊˈdɒp sɪn /

noun

Biochemistry.

1. a protein complex in the membrane of halobacteria that conducts a unique form of photosynthesis, employing the light-sensitive pigment retinal rather than the chlorophyll used by all other known photosynthetic organisms.

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Etymology

Origin of bacteriorhodopsin

First recorded in 1975–80; bacterio- + rhodopsin

Example Sentences

Henderson took a major step forward when he placed a bacterial cell membrane containing millions of molecules called bacteriorhodopsin into an electron microscope.

From Science Magazine • Oct. 4, 2017

“You were looking at the atoms in the protein,” says Henderson, who, with Unwin, published2 the structure of bacteriorhodopsin in 1975.

From Nature • Sep. 8, 2015

X-ray crystallography was certainly king when biologist Richard Henderson arrived at the LMB in 1973 to study a protein called bacteriorhodopsin, which uses light energy to pump protons across a membrane.

From Nature • Sep. 8, 2015

Halobacteria: Large blooms of this salt-loving archaea appear reddish due to the presence of bacteriorhodopsin in the membrane. Bacteriorhodopsin is related to the retinal pigment rhodopsin.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

Continuing his research after transferring to California in 1967, Stoeckenius found that the pigment, called bacteriorhodopsin, functioned as a sort of pump, converting sunlight directly into electrochemical energy.

From Time Magazine Archive