Vibronic dynamics of the ultrafast all-trans to 13-cis photoisomerization of retinal in channelrhodopsin-1

Channelrhodopsins are light-gated ion channels with extensive applications in optogenetics. Channelrhodopsin-1 from Chlamydomonas augustae (CaChR1) exhibits a red-shifted absorption spectrum as compared to Channelrhodopsin-2, which is highly beneficial for optogenetic application. The primary event in the photocycle of CaChR1 involves an isomerization of the protein-bound retinal chromophore. Here, we apply highly time-resolved vibronic spectroscopy to reveal the electronic and structural dynamics associated with the first step of the photocycle of CaChR1. We observe vibrationally coherent formation of the P1 intermediate exhibiting a twisted 13-cis retinal with a 110 ± 7 fs time constant. Comparison with low-temperature resonance Raman spectroscopy of the corresponding trapped photoproduct demonstrates that this rapidly formed P1 intermediate is stable for several hundreds of nanoseconds