USAP-DC

We studied the molecular evolution and physiology of two types of ion channels: voltage gated potassium channels and transient receptor potential (TRP) channels. We also studied the molecular evolution and expression of water-passing channels, the aquaporins, to determine if these show signs of evolutionary change in notothenioids. We noted apparent amino acid substitutions at a number of sites in a muscle-expressing potassium channel (Kv1.3). We were surprised to find that although the AAs at these sites appeared highly conserved in teleosts and even in tetrapods, reverting them singly, in pairs, or all together back to the ancestral condition had no effect on the biophysical properties of the channels that we measured (voltage-sensitivity; rate of activation) at room temperature as well as over a range of temperatures down to 4oC. The results for the TRP channels and aquaporins can be accessed in their publications. York and Zakon (2022) in Genome Biology and Evolution, and two forthcoming papers.

Person	Role
Zakon, Harold	Investigator and contact
York, Julia	Researcher

Antarctic Organisms and Ecosystems

Award # 1443637

USAP-1443637_1

None in the Database

Repository	Title (link)	Format(s)	Status
Texas Data Repository	Evolutionary analysis of transient receptor potential (TRP) channels in notothenioid fishes	Not Provided	exists
GenBank	TagSeq tissue specific expression data for Antarctic Harpagifer antarcticus and tropical African cichlid Astatotilapia (Haplochromis) burtoni	Not Provided	exists
USAP-DC	Functional characterization of temperature activated ion channels from Antarctic fishes	None	exists

1. Julia M York, Harold H Zakon, Evolution of Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) Ion Channels in Antarctic Fishes (Cryonotothenioidea) and Identification of Putative Thermosensors, Genome Biology and Evolution, Volume 14, Issue 2, February 2022, evac009 (doi:10.1093/gbe/evac009)
2. York, J. M. (2023). Temperature activated transient receptor potential ion channels from Antarctic fishes. Open Biology, 13(10). (doi:10.1098/rsob.230215)