Highlights•Combination of four color-tuning mechanisms results in diverse spectral
properties.•Structural information uncovers general and specific photoconversion …

This review adds the bilin-binding phytochromes to the Chemical Reviews thematic issue
“Optogenetics and Photopharmacology”. The work is structured into two parts. We first …

Phytochrome photoreceptors control plant growth, development, and the shade avoidance
response that limits crop yield in high-density agricultural plantings. Cyanobacteriochromes …

The three-dimensional (3D) crystal structures of the GAF3 domain of cyanobacteriochrome
Slr1393 (Synechocystis PCC6803) carrying a phycocyanobilin chromophore could be …

The opacity of mammalian tissue to visible light and the strong attenuation of infrared light by
water at≥ 900 nm have contributed to growing interest in the development of far-red and …

Because cyanobacteriochrome photoreceptors need only a single compact domain for
chromophore incorporation and for absorption of visible spectra including the long …

The origin of the spectral shift from a red‐to a green‐absorbing form in a
cyanobacteriochrome, Slr1393g3, was identified by combined quantum …

Widespread phytochrome photoreceptors use photoisomerization of linear tetrapyrrole
(bilin) chromophores to measure the ratio of red to far-red light. Cyanobacteria also contain …

A large number of novel phytochromes named cyanobacteriochromes (CBCRs) have been
recently identified. CBCRs appear to be attractive for further in-depth studies as paradigms …

Over the last decades, photoreceptive proteins were extensively studied with biophysical
methods to gain a fundamental understanding of their working mechanisms and further …