Opsin three domains of life: Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukaryota. In Eukaryota, type I opsins are found mainly in unicellular organisms such as green algae, and in fungi. In most complex multicellular eukaryotes, type I opsins have been replaced with other light-sensitive molecules such as cryptochrome and phytochrome in plants, and type II opsins in Metazoa (animals). Microbial opsins are often known by the rhodopsin form of the molecule, i.e., rhodopsin (in the broad sense) = opsin + chromophore. Among the many kinds of microbial opsins are the proton pumps bacteriorhodopsin (BR) and xanthorhodopsin (xR), the chloride pump halorhodopsin (HR) the photosensors
Botany sporophyte within its tissues for at least part of its life, even in the seed plants, where the gametophyte itself is nurtured by its parent sporophyte. Other groups of organisms that were previously studied by botanists include bacteria (now studied in bacteriology), fungi (mycology) – including lichen-forming fungi (lichenology), non-chlorophyte algae (phycology), and viruses (virology). However, attention is still given to these groups by botanists, and fungi (including lichens) and photosynthetic protists are usually covered in introductory botany courses. Palaeobotanists study ancient plants in the fossil record to provide information about the evolutionary history of plants. Cyanobacteria, the first oxygen-releasing