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Updated: Aug 22, 2026

Mutagenesis and Functional Analysis of Ion Channels Heterologously Expressed in Mammalian Cells
Published on: October 1, 2010
DKT1, a novel K+ channel from carrot, forms functional heteromeric channels with KDC1
Elide Formentin1, Serena Varotto, Alex Costa
1CRIBI, Centro Interdipartimentale per le Biotecnologie Innovative, Università di Padova, Viale G. Colombo 3, 35131 Padova, Italy. elide@mail.cribi.unipd.it
Abstract:
We report the isolation and characterisation of DKT1, a new carrot K+ channel alpha-subunit belonging to the Shaker-like family. DKT1 is expressed in many tissues of the adult plant, suggesting that it may play important roles in both nutrition and other important physiological processes. During embryo development, DKT1 is expressed at later phases implying the involvement of K+ in embryo maturation. When co-expressed with KDC1 in Xenopus oocytes, DKT1 is able to form functional, heteromeric channels, suggesting that possible interactions between these two ion channels in plant tissues may modulate K+ uptake.
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