Imaging bacteriorhodopsinlike molecules of claretmembranes from Tibet halobacteria xz515 by atomic force microscope

HalobacteriaH.sp.xz 515 was isolated from a salt lake in Tibet. Although proton release-and-uptake across claret membrane is in reverse order compared to bacteriorhodopsin in purple membrane fromHalobacterium Salinarum, and its efficiency of proton pump is much lower, AFM image shows that the molecules are still arranged in a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice of trimers. Primary structure of Cto G-helix of the archaerhodopsin shows that it has only 56% homology with bacteriorhodopsin. But the interactive amino acid residues at the interface between B and D-helixes are conserved. These amino acid residues are believed to play a significant role in the stability of protein oligomers.