Structural and mechanistic insights into symmetry conversion in plant GORK K⁺ channel regulation

Abstract

GORK is a shaker-like potassium channel in plants that contains ankyrin (ANK) repeats. In guard cells, activation of GORK causes K⁺ efflux, reducing turgor pressure and closing stomata. However, how GORK is regulated remains largely elusive. Here, we solved the cryo-EM structure of Arabidopsis GORK, revealing an unusual symmetry reduction (from C4 to C2) feature within its tetrameric assembly. This symmetry reduction in GORK channel is driven by ANK dimerization, which disrupts the coupling between transmembrane helices and cytoplasmic domains, thus maintaining GORK in an autoinhibited state. Electrophysiological and structural analyses further confirmed that ANK dimerization inhibits GORK, and its removal restores C4 symmetry, converting GORK to an activatable state. This dynamic switching between C2 and C4 symmetry, mediated by ANK dimerization, presents a GORK target site that guard cells regulate to switch the plant K⁺ channel between inhibited and activatable states, thus controlling stomatal movement in response to environmental stimuli.

Keywords

GORK / symmetry conversion / stomatal signaling / cryo-EM / electrophysiology / guard cell

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The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Higher Education Press.