Reversible silencing of neuronal activity is a powerful approach for isolating the roles of
specific neuronal populations in circuit dynamics and behavior. In contrast with neuronal …

Microbial rhodopsins are a family of photoactive retinylidene proteins widespread
throughout the microbial world. They are notable for their diversity of function, using …

Channelrhodopsins are used widely for optical control of neurons, in which they generate
photoinduced proton, sodium or chloride influx. Potassium (K+) is central to neuron …

Optogenetic silencing allows time-resolved functional interrogation of defined neuronal
populations. However, the limitations of inhibitory optogenetic tools impose stringent …

The naturally occurring channelrhodopsin variant anion channelrhodopsin-1 (ACR1),
discovered in the cryptophyte algae Guillardia theta, exhibits large light-gated anion …

Early research on the four microbial rhodopsins discovered in the archaeal Halobacterium
salinarum revealed a structural template that served as a scaffold for two different functions …

Natural anion channelrhodopsins (ACRs) discovered in the cryptophyte alga Guillardia theta
generate large hyperpolarizing currents at membrane potentials above the Nernst …

Channelrhodopsins are light-gated ion channels widely used to control neuronal firing with
light (optogenetics). We report two previously unknown families of anion channelrhodopsins …

Genetic engineering of natural light-gated ion channels has proven a powerful way to
generate optogenetic tools for a wide variety of applications. In recent years, blue-light …

Cation and anion channelrhodopsins (CCRs and ACRs, respectively) from phototactic algae
have become widely used as genetically encoded molecular tools to control cell membrane …