Genetic and Voltage-clamp Analysis of a Drosophila Potassium Channel
This extract was created in the absence of an abstract.
Excerpt
The technique of voltage clamping combined with genetic analysis presents a unique opportunity for studying ion channels. The biophysical analysis of mutationally altered ion currents can provide clues about ion channel function and structure. In addition, a better understanding of the genetic aspects of channels resulting from such studies might pave the way for a direct analysis of molecular structure via gene cloning (cf. Jan et al., this volume). With these goals in mind, the combined techniques of genetics and voltage clamping were used to analyze mutations that map to the X-linked Shaker locus of Drosophila melanogaster. As will be shown, this study has produced evidence that the Shaker locus codes for at least one molecular component of the K+ channel that carries a fast transient current.
Mutations at the Shaker locus show a striking behavioral phenotype of violent shaking under ether anesthesia. However, even when not anesthetized, Shaker mutants...
