A mutation in the C. elegans EXP-2 potassium channel that alters feeding behavior.
The nematode pharynx has a potassium channel with unusual properties, which allows the muscles to repolarize quickly and with the proper delay. Here, the Caenorhabditis elegans exp-2 gene is shown to encode this channel. EXP-2 is a Kv-type (voltage-activated) potassium channel that has inward-rectifying properties resembling those of the structurally dissimilar human ether-à-go-go-related gene (HERG) channel. Null and gain-of-function mutations affect pharyngeal muscle excitability in ways that are consistent with the electrophysiological behavior of the channel, and thereby demonstrate a direct link between the kinetics of this unusual channel and behavior.
Davis
M W
MW
Department of Molecular Biology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390-9148, USA. wdavis@biology.utah.edu
Fleischhauer
R
R
Dent
J A
JA
Joho
R H
RH
Avery
L
L
D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D017238:Genes, Helminth; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D015640:Ion Channel Gating; D007700:Kinetics; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009132:Muscles / Q000378:metabolism; D009154:Mutation; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D009865:Oocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D010609:Pharyngeal Muscles / Q000502:physiology; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D011487:Protein Conformation; D018075:RNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D014982:Xenopus laevis
D015221:Potassium Channels; D018075:RNA, Complementary; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins