Unique genetic re-wiring of a sodium channel explains how a family of electric fish can generate the highest frequency of electrical discharge seen in any animal.
In a study publishing 27 March in the open access journal PLOS Biology researchers Ammon Thompson, Daniel Infield and colleagues at the University of Texas, Austin, University of Iowa, and Indiana University Bloomington show that this evolutionarily modified sodium channel could contribute to the electric organ’s high-frequency firing.
Electric fish sense their environment and communicate with each other by producing electrical signals from their electric organs. [Read more…] about Gene responsible for electric fish ‘spark’ found in South American ghost knifefish