title: Molecular separation of two behavioral phenotypes by a mutation affecting the promoters of a Ca-activated K channel.
abstract: The Drosophila slowpoke gene encodes a BK-type calcium-activated potassium channel. Null mutations in slowpoke perturb the signaling properties of neurons and muscles and cause behavioral defects. The animals fly very poorly compared with wild-type strains and, after exposure to a bright but cool light or a heat pulse, exhibit a "sticky-feet" phenotype. Expression of slowpoke arises from five transcriptional promoters that express the gene in neural, muscle, and epithelial tissues. A chromosomal deletion (ash2(18)) has been identified that removes the neuronal promoters but not the muscle-tracheal cell promoter. This deletion complements the flight defect of slowpoke null mutants but not the sticky-feet phenotype. Electrophysiological assays confirm that the ash2(18) chromosome restores normal electrical properties to the flight muscle. This suggests that the flight defect arises from a lack of slowpoke expression in muscle, whereas the sticky-feet phenotype arises from a lack of expression in nervous tissue.
authors.affiliation: Section of Neurobiology, School of Biological Sciences, Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712-1064, USA. nigela@mail.utexas.edu
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Atkinson
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brenner
authors.forename: W m
authors.initials: Wm
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wilbur
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Larimer
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D004330:Drosophila; D005426:Flight, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D010641:Phenotype; D015221:Potassium Channels / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D015221:Potassium Channels