KC1 — Solanum tuberosum

Summary

StKC1 (KC1) on potato chromosome 12 encodes a voltage-sensitive potassium channel belonging to the KAT/AKT family, possessing outward rectifier potassium channel activity, ion transporter activity, and additional annotated functions including ATPase inhibitor activity and calcium-dependent protein serine/threonine phosphatase activity. The gene is associated with regulation of membrane potential, monoatomic ion homeostasis, and upregulation of stomatal opening. It has been linked to numerous agronomically important traits including yield, water use efficiency, transpiration rate, photosynthetic rate, leaf necrosis tolerance, root mass density, days to flowering, and responses to water stress, aluminum, cadmium, and powdery mildew. Associations also include potassium translocation, stomatal regulation, osmotic pressure regulation, and reactive oxygen species response. The protein localizes to the monoatomic ion channel complex, vesicle, cell plate, and pollen tube tip. Studies of related genes in other species connect the family to guard cell ion flux, seed germination, and stress tolerance.