title: Primary mutations in calmodulin prevent activation of the Ca(++)-dependent Na+ channel in Paramecium.
abstract: Paramecium tetraurelia behavioral mutant cam12 displays a "fast-2" behavioral phenotype: it fails to respond to Na+ stimuli. Electrophysiologically, it lacks a Ca(++)-dependent Na+ current. Genetics and DNA sequencing showed the primary defect of cam12 to be in the calmodulin gene (Kink et al., 1990). To correlate calmodulin structure and function in Paramecium, we elucidated the primary structure of cam12 calmodulin. Peptide sequencing confirmed the two point mutations predicted by the DNA sequence: a glycine-to-glutamate substitution at position 40 and an aspartate-to-asparagine substitution at position 50. Our results further showed that lysine 13 and lysine 115 were methylated normally in cam12. It is likely that the electrophysiological abnormalities of cam12 are a direct reflection of the amino-acid substitutions, as opposed to improper posttranslational modification.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin, Madison 53706.
authors.forename: K Y
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Ling
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Preston
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Burns
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Kink
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saimi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kung
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000596:Amino Acids / Q000032:analysis; D000818:Animals; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D002147:Calmodulin / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004594:Electrophysiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010247:Paramecium / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000596:Amino Acids; D002147:Calmodulin; D015222:Sodium Channels; D002118:Calcium