Timing and precision of rattlesnake spinal motoneurons are determined by the KV7 2/3 potassium channel.

The evolution of novel motor behaviors requires modifications in the central pattern generators (CPGs) controlling muscle activity. How such changes gradually lead to novel behaviors remains enigmatic due to the long time course of evolution. Rattlesnakes provide a unique opportunity to investigate how a locomotor CPG was evolutionarily modified to generate a novel behavior-in this case, acoustic signaling. We show that motoneurons (MNs) in the body and tail spinal cord of rattlesnakes possess fundamentally different physiological characteristics, which allow MNs in the tail to integrate and transmit CPG output for controlling superfast muscles with high temporal precision. Using patch-clamp electrophysiology, we demonstrate that these differences in locomotor and rattle MNs are mainly determined by KV7 _2/3 potassium channels. However, although KV7 _2/3 exerted a significantly different influence on locomotor and rattle MN physiology, single-cell RNA-seq unexpectedly did not reveal any differences in KV7 _2/3 channels' expression. VIDEO ABSTRACT.
Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no conflict of interests.
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