High affinity (20 μM) K+ uptake systems (Hak1, TC# 2.A.72.2.1) of the yeast Debaryomyces occidentalis as well as the fungus, Neurospora crassa, and several homologues in plants have been characterized.
The yeast high affinity (KM = 1 μM) K+ transporter Hak1 is 762 amino acyl residues long with 12 putative TMSs.
TRK transporters, responsible for the bulk of K+ accumulation in plants, fungi, and bacteria, mediate ion currents driven by the large membrane voltages (-150 to -250 mV) common to non-animal cells.
Bacterial TRK proteins resemble K+ channels in their primary sequence, crystallize as membrane dimers having intramolecular K+-channel-like folding, and complex with a cytoplasmic collar formed of four RCK domains.
[5] Fungal TRK proteins possess a large built-in regulatory domain and a highly conserved pair of transmembrane helices (TMSs 7 and 8, ahead of the C-terminus), postulated to facilitate intramembranal oligomerization.