title: Molecular Composition of Plant Vacuoles: Important but Less Understood Regulations and Roles of Tonoplast Lipids.
abstract: The vacuole is an essential organelle for plant growth and development. It is the location for the storage of nutrients; such as sugars and proteins; and other metabolic products. Understanding the mechanisms of vacuolar trafficking and molecule transport across the vacuolar membrane is of great importance in understanding basic plant development and cell biology and for crop quality improvement. Proteins play important roles in vacuolar trafficking; such proteins include Rab GTPase signaling proteins; cargo recognition receptors; and SNAREs (Soluble NSF Attachment Protein Receptors) that are involved in membrane fusion. Some vacuole membrane proteins also serve as the transporters or channels for transport across the tonoplast. Less understood but critical are the roles of lipids in vacuolar trafficking. In this review, we will first summarize molecular composition of plant vacuoles and we will then discuss our latest understanding on the role of lipids in plant vacuolar trafficking and a surprising connection to ribosome function through the study of ribosomal mutants.
authors.affiliation: Center for Plant Cell Biology & Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521, USA. chunhuaz@ucr.edu.
authors.forename: Chunhua
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Center for Plant Cell Biology & Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521, USA. glenn.hicks@ucr.edu.
authors.forename: Glenn R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Hicks
authors.affiliation: Center for Plant Cell Biology & Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, University of California, 900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521, USA. natasha.raikhel@ucr.edu.
authors.forename: Natasha V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Raikhel
keywords: tonoplast lipid composition; tonoplast protein composition; vacuolar trafficking; vacuole lumen content