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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1972 Jan;69(1):93–97. doi: 10.1073/pnas.69.1.93

Genetic Modification of Electric Properties in an Excitable Membrane

Ching Kung 1,2,*, Roger Eckert 1,2
PMCID: PMC427552  PMID: 4500559

Abstract

A behavioral deficiency produced by a single gene mutation in Paramecium aurelia was traced to impaired electric excitability of the cell membrane. Evidence is presented that the mutant membrane does not exhibit the normal depolarization-activated increase in calcium conductance responsible for regenerative depolarization in the wild type. Other electric properties characteristic of the wild-type membrane remain normal in the mutant.

Keywords: paramecium, calcium conductance, electrophysiological measurements, membrane mutant

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Selected References

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