Excitonic coupling effect on the circular dichroism spectrum of sodium-pumping rhodopsin KR2

We investigate the role of excitonic coupling between retinal chromophores of Krokinobacter eikastus rhodopsin 2 (KR2) in the circular dichroism (CD) spectrum using an exciton model combined with the transition density fragment interaction (TDFI) method. Although the multimer formation of retinal protein commonly induces biphasic negative and positive CD bands, the KR2 pentamer shows only a single positive CD band. The TDFI calculation reveals the dominant contribution of the Coulomb interaction and negligible contributions of exchange and charge-transfer interactions to the excitonic coupling energy. The exciton model with TDFI successfully reproduces the main features of the experimental absorption and CD spectra of KR2, which allow us to investigate the mechanism of the CD spectral shape observed in the KR2 pentamer. The results clearly show that the red shift of the CD band is attributed to the excitonic coupling between retinal chromophores. Further analysis reveals that the weak excitonic coupling plays a crucial role in the shape of the CD spectrum. The present approach provides a basis for understanding the origin of the KR2 CD spectrum and is useful for analyzing the mechanism of chromophore–chromophore interactions in biological systems.