Redchuk, T.A. et al. Nat. Chem. Biol. doi:10.1038/nchembio.2343 (2017).

Kaberniuk, A.A. et al. Nat. Methods 13, 591–597 (2016).

Various optogenetic tools are available to control proteins. The BphP1–PpsR2 system is sensitive to near-infrared light and therefore suited for in vivo applications (Kaberniuk et al., 2016). However, PpsR2 is a large protein and susceptible to oligomerization. Redchuk et al. report an improved version of the BphP1–PpsR2 system, in which RpsR2 is replaced by Q-PAS1, a version lacking the domains responsible for oligomerization (Redchuk et al., 2017). When used to control transcription of a reporter gene in a light-dependent manner, the updated BphP1–Q-PAS1 system works as efficiently as the original. The researchers demonstrated the performance of the BphP1–Q-PAS1 pair in a variety of applications in cell culture, including light-dependent regulation of the epigenetic state, protein sequestration to the plasma membrane and recruitment of proteins to the nucleus. Furthermore, the near-infrared-controlled BphP1–Q-PAS1 system can be combined with the blue-sensitive LightON system for multiplexed protein regulation.