A halorhodopsin-overproducing mutant isolated from an extremely haloalkaliphilic archaeon Natronomonas pharaonis.

The halorhodopsin (hR)-overproducing mutant strain KM-1 was isolated from the extremely haloalkaliphilic archaeon Natronomonas pharaonis type strain DSM2160(T). hR-enriched membranes were easily obtained by washing the cells with distilled water. The membranes were claret colored owing to two pigments: hR and bacterioruberin.