Identification of regions responsible for the function of the plant K+ channels KAT1 and AKT2 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Xenopus laevis oocytes.

The Arabidopsis K+ channel KAT1 complements in K+-limited medium the growth of the K+ uptake defective Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutant strain CY162, while another K+ channel, AKT2, does not. To gain insight into the structural basis for this difference, we constructed 12 recombinant chimeric channels from these two genes. When expressed in CY162, only three of these chimeras fully rescued the growth of CY162 under K+-limited conditions. We conclude that the transmembrane core region of KAT1 is important for its activity in S. cerevisiae. This involves not only the pore region but also parts of its voltage-sensor domain.