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Science 16 August 1974:
Vol. 185. no. 4151, pp. 620 - 621
DOI: 10.1126/science.185.4151.620
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Articles

Control of Membrane K+ Permeability in a Hyperpolarizing Photoreceptor: Similar Effects of Light and Metabolic Inhibitors

A. L. F. Gorman 1 and John S. Mcreynolds 2

1 Department of Physiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02118
2 Laboratory of Neurophysiology, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20014

In the hyperpolarizing photoreceptors of the scallop Pecten irradians the metabolic inhibitors cyani 'e and 2,4-dinitrophenol cause a rapid hyperpolarization and increase in membrane permeability to potassium ions, similar to the effect of light. Cellular metabolism appears important in maintaining the low permeability to potassium ions necessary to keep the membrane depolarized in darkness, possibly by regulating the intracellular calcium ion concentration.

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)