The interference of truncated with normal potassium channel subunits leads to abnormal behaviour in transgenic Drosophila melanogaster

• Published in: The EMBO journal Vol. 8; no. 8; pp. 2359 - 2364
• Main Authors: Gisselmann, G., Sewing, S., Madsen, B.W., Mallart, A., Angaut‐Petit, D., Müller‐Holtkamp, F., Ferrus, A., Pongs, O.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group 01.08.1989
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Animals, Genetically Modified; Base Sequence; behavioral genetics; behaviour; Biological and medical sciences; Cell physiology; Diptera; DNA Transposable Elements; Drosophila melanogaster; Drosophila melanogaster - genetics; Drosophilidae; Exons; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Expression Regulation; Heat-Shock Proteins - genetics; Hot Temperature; ion; Membrane and intracellular transports; Molecular and cellular biology; Molecular Sequence Data; mutants; Mutation; Neuromuscular Junction - metabolism; Phenotype; potassium; Potassium Channels - metabolism; Transcription, Genetic; Transformation, Genetic; Nucleotide sequence; Insecta; Transgenic animal; Ionic channel; Gene expression; Subunit; Drosophilidae; Genetic transfer; Phenotype; Complementary DNA; Membrane transport; Arthropoda; Mutation; Invertebrata; Drosophila melanogaster; Potassium; Vector; Diptera; Hybrid gene
• ISSN: 0261-4189; 1460-2075
• DOI: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1989.tb08364.x

The Shaker locus of Drosophila melanogaster encodes a family of A‐type potassium channel subunits. Shaker mutants behave as antimorphs in gene dosage tests. This behaviour is due to the production of truncated A‐channel subunits. We propose that they interfere with the function of their normal counterpart by forming multimeric A‐channel structures. This hypothesis was tested by constructing transgenic flies carrying a heat‐inducible gene encoding a truncated A‐type potassium channel subunit together with a normal wild type doses of A‐type potassium channel subunits. The altered subunit leads at larval, pupal or adult stages to the transformation of wild type into Shaker flies. The transformed flies exhibited a heat‐inducible abnormal leg shaking behaviour and a heat‐inducible facilitated neurotransmitter release at larval neuromuscular junctions. By the overexpression of an aberrant A‐channel subunit the normal behaviour of transgenic D. melanogaster can be altered in a predictable way.