Abstract
It is now generally accepted that the composition of biological membranes is under genetic control. For each membrane protein, each enzyme involved in the biosynthesis of membrane lipids, and each enzyme that modifies either proteins or lipids (e. g., by adding carbohydrate residues to make glycoproteins or glycolipids), there must be a structural gene whose nucleotide sequence specifies the appropriate amino acid sequence. In addition, there are assumed to be regulatory genes which govern the rates at which the various proteins are made. The purpose of this chapter is to survey the ways in which genetic studies can contribute to our understanding of membrane structure and function. Successive sections of the chapter will discuss the criteria for establishing that differences in membrane properties are genetically determined, the kinds of information that can come from biochemical and physiological studies on membrane mutants, and the information that can be gained by genetic analysis.
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