Question

Researchers have identified a gene that, they think, encodes a voltage-dependent potassium channel. How would you go about trying to prove that it does encode such a channel?

Answer 1

in order to test that a gene is encoding for a voltage gated potassium channel, a model would be set up in the knockouts of Arabidopsis. The importance of potsssium channels have to be identified, since they are responsible in shaping of dynamic signaling as well as responsible in setting of resting potentials in almost all the animal cells.

knockout mutants would be used for studying the action of the gene. These knock outs could be either a subtle mutant of Arabidopsis or a double mutant of Arabidopsis. A reverse strategy would be used for isolation of the Arabidopsis plants that contain the knockout mutants of the genes, that are considered to be encoding voltage dependent potassium channels. Let us consider this to be ATK1 and ATK2. Comparative studies have to be done in the growth as well as the membrane properties in the mutants as well as the wild type organism, for observing the physiological functions in both the species. This would help in confirming if the gene thought is actually encoding the voltage dependent potassium channel.