Abstract
The genetic locus for alleles (+k and k) that determine the presence and absence of the muscle enzyme, phosphorylase kinase, has been located on the X chromosome of the mouse. The inheritance of glycogen content in resting skeletal muscle follows the Mendelian pattern, and the genes which determine it must also be sex-linked. Evidence is presented which strongly suggests that one of the major determinants of glycogen concentration is phosphorylase kinase; inverse correlations of the enzyme and glycogen were found during neonatal development and among hybrid females, where content of phosphorylase kinase in muscle is highly variable. This variability in kinase content also determines the degree of the epinephrine effect (formation of phosphorylase a) in these hybrid females. The hybrid mice (F1, F2, and first backcross) were obtained from crosses of I/FnLn and C57BL/FnLn mice. Adult mice of the I strain completely lack phosphorylase kinase in skeletal muscle and have a high glycogen content.
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This paper was presented at a symposium entitled “Genetic Control of Mammalian Metabolism” held at The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine, June 30–July 2, 1969. The symposium was supported in part by an allocation from NIH General Research Support Grant FR 05545 from the Division of Research Resources to The Jackson Laboratory.
This research was supported by grants (AM 03524 and GM-K3-4120) from the National Institutes of Health. Contribution No. 931 from the Division of Basic Health Sciences.
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Lyon, J.B. The X-chromosome and the enzymes controlling muscle glycogen: Phosphorylase kinase. Biochem Genet 4, 169–185 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00484028
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00484028