Electrostatic Tuning of a Potassium Channel in Electric Fish.

ABSTRACT: Molecular variation contributes to the evolution of adaptive phenotypes, though it is often difficult to understand precisely how. The adaptively significant electric organ discharge behavior of weakly electric fish is the direct result of biophysical membrane properties set by ion channels. Here, we describe a voltage-gated potassium-channel gene in African electric fishes that is under positive selection and highly expressed in the electric organ. The channel produced by this gene shortens electric organ action potentials by activating quickly and at hyperpolarized membrane potentials. The source of these properties is a derived patch of negatively charged amino acids in an extracellular loop near the voltage sensor. We demonstrate that this negative patch acts by contributing to the glo

SUBMITTER: Swapna I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6067922 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature