Two K2P Channels, TWK-46 and TWK-26 do not affect C. elegans Egg-Laying Behavior.

Abstract

Two-pore domain potassium channels, also known as K2P channels, play vital roles in maintaining the resting membrane potential in excitable cells, affecting a variety of physiological processes across species. The Caenorhabditis elegans ( C. elegans ) genome contains 46 different K2P-encoding genes, yet most of their functions remain unknown. Here, we have investigated the possible roles of two C. elegans K2P channel genes - twk-26 and twk-46 - that are expressed in the egg-laying neural circuit by characterizing the egg-laying behavior of null mutants generated by CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing. However, using a variety of assays, we did not observe significant differences in egg-laying behavior between twk-26 and twk-46 mutants and wild-type worms .