Red-shifted optogenetic excitation: a tool for fast neural control derived from Volvox carteri.

Department of Bioengineering and Psychiatry, W083 Clark Center, 318 Campus Drive, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305, USA.

The introduction of two microbial opsin-based tools, channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) and halorhodopsin (NpHR), to neuroscience has generated interest in fast, multimodal, cell type-specific neural circuit control. Here we describe a cation-conducting channelrhodopsin (VChR1) from Volvox carteri that can drive spiking at 589 nm, with excitation maximum red-shifted approximately 70 nm compared with ChR2. These results demonstrate fast photostimulation with yellow light, thereby defining a functionally distinct third category of microbial rhodopsin proteins.

PMID: 18432196 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

PMCID: PMC2692303