Separation of Xanthorhodopsin from Salinibacter ruber and its in vitro Reconstruction

Abstract

Capture and conversion of abundant solar energy using biotechnology will be essential for the development of sustainable and future energy.Photosynthesis is used for the production of biofuels such as biohydrogen. In this study, lightharvesting xanthorhodopsin consisting of retinal and salinixanthin was isolated from a photosynthetic microorganism Salinibacter ruber by aqueous two phase extraction. To stabilize the light-harvesting machine, artificial xanthorhodopsin-liposome system was reconstructed to have photoelectron absorption activity.