Protein transport in plant cells: in and out of the Golgi

Cell biology of the plant Golgi apparatus

The higher plant Golgi apparatus, comprising many individual stacks of membrane bounded cisternae, is one of the most enigmatic of the cytoplasmic organelles. Not only can the stacks receive material from the endoplasmic reticulum, process it and target it to the correct cellular destination, but they can also synthesise and export complex carbohydrates and lipids and most likely act as one end point of the endocytic pathway. In many cells such processing and sorting can take place while the stacks are moving within the cytoplasm and, remarkably, the organelle manages to retain its structural integrity. This review considers some of the latest data and views on transport both to and from the Golgi and the mechanisms by which such activity is regulated.

Subcellular localization of Arabidopsis 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase

Plants produce diverse isoprenoids, which are synthesized in plastids, mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and the nonorganellar cytoplasm. 3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMGR) catalyzes the synthesis of mevalonate, a rate-limiting step in the cytoplasmic pathway. Several branches of the pathway lead to the synthesis of structurally and functionally varied, yet essential, isoprenoids. Several HMGR isoforms have been identified in all plants examined. Studies based on gene expression and on fractionation of enzyme activity suggested that subcellular compartmentalization of HMGR is an important intracellular channeling mechanism for the production of the specific classes of isoprenoids. Plant HMGR has been shown previously to insert in vitro into the membrane of microsomal vesicles, but the final in vivo subcellular localization(s) remains controversial. To address the latter in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) cells, we conducted a multipronged microscopy and cell fractionation approach that included imaging of chimeric HMGR green fluorescent protein localizations in transiently transformed cell leaves, immunofluorescence confocal microscopy in wild-type and stably transformed seedlings, immunogold electron microscopy examinations of endogenous HMGR in seedling cotyledons, and sucrose density gradient analyses of HMGR-containing organelles. Taken together, the results reveal that endogenous Arabidopsis HMGR is localized at steady state within ER as expected, but surprisingly also predominantly within spherical, vesicular structures that range from 0.2- to 0.6-microm diameter, located in the cytoplasm and within the central vacuole in differentiated cotyledon cells. The N-terminal region, including the transmembrane domain of HMGR, was found to be necessary and sufficient for directing HMGR to ER and the spherical structures. It is believed, although not directly demonstrated, that these vesicle-like structures are derived from segments of HMGR-ER. Nevertheless, they represent a previously undescribed subcellular compartment likely capable of synthesizing mevalonate, which provides new evidence for multiorganelle compartmentalization of the isoprenoid biosynthetic pathways in plants.

Secretory traffic triggers the formation of tubular continuities across Golgi sub-compartments

The organization of secretory traffic remains unclear, mainly because of the complex structure and dynamics of the secretory pathway. We have thus studied a simplified system, a single synchronized traffic wave crossing an individual Golgi stack, using electron tomography. Endoplasmic-reticulum-to-Golgi carriers join the stack by fusing with cis cisternae and induce the formation of intercisternal tubules, through which they redistribute their contents throughout the stack. These tubules seem to be pervious to Golgi enzymes, whereas Golgi vesicles are depleted of both enzymes and cargo. Cargo then traverses the stack without leaving the cisternal lumen. When cargo exits the stack, intercisternal connections disappear. These findings provide a new view of secretory traffic that includes dynamic intercompartment continuities as key players.

Localization of Organelle Proteins by Isotope Tagging (LOPIT)

We describe a proteomics method for determining the subcellular localization of membrane proteins. Organelles are partially separated using centrifugation through self-generating density gradients. Proteins from each organelle co-fractionate and therefore exhibit similar distributions in the gradient. Protein distributions can be determined through a series of pair-wise comparisons of gradient fractions, using cleavable ICAT to enable relative quantitation of protein levels by MS. The localization of novel proteins is determined using multivariate data analysis techniques to match their distributions to those of proteins that are known to reside in specific organelles. Using this approach, we have simultaneously demonstrated the localization of membrane proteins in both the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi apparatus in Arabidopsis. Localization of organelle proteins by isotope tagging is a new tool for high-throughput protein localization, which is applicable to a wide range of research areas such as the study of organelle function and protein trafficking.

MEMBRANE TRAFFICKING IN PLANTS

Plant membrane trafficking shares many features with other eukaryotic organisms, including the machinery for vesicle formation and fusion. However, the plant endomembrane system lacks an ER-Golgi intermediate compartment, has numerous Golgi stacks and several types of vacuoles, and forms a transient compartment during cell division. ER-Golgi trafficking involves bulk flow and efficient recycling of H/KDEL-bearing proteins. Sorting in the Golgi stacks separates bulk flow to the plasma membrane from receptor-mediated trafficking to the lytic vacuole. Cargo for the protein storage vacuole is delivered from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), cis-Golgi, and trans-Golgi. Endocytosis includes recycling of plasma membrane proteins from early endosomes. Late endosomes appear identical with the multivesiculate prevacuolar compartment that lies on the Golgi-vacuole trafficking pathway. In dividing cells, homotypic fusion of Golgi-derived vesicles forms the cell plate, which expands laterally by targeted vesicle fusion at its margin, eventually fusing with the plasma membrane.

The role of ADP-ribosylation factor and SAR1 in vesicular trafficking in plants

Ras-like small GTP binding proteins regulate a wide variety of intracellular signalling and vesicular trafficking pathways in eukaryotic cells including plant cells. They share a common structure that operates as a molecular switch by cycling between active GTP-bound and inactive GDP-bound conformational states. The active GTP-bound state is regulated by guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEF), which promote the exchange of GDP for GTP. The inactive GDP-bound state is promoted by GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs) which accelerate GTP hydrolysis by orders of magnitude. Two types of small GTP-binding proteins, ADP-ribosylation factor (Arf) and secretion-associated and Ras-related (Sar), are major regulators of vesicle biogenesis in intracellular traffic and are founding members of a growing family that also includes Arf-related proteins (Arp) and Arf-like (Arl) proteins. The most widely involved small GTPase in vesicular trafficking is probably Arf1, which not only controls assembly of COPI- and AP1, AP3, and AP4/clathrin-coated vesicles but also recruits other proteins to membranes, including some that may be components of further coats. Recent molecular, structural and biochemical studies have provided a wealth of detail of the interactions between Arf and the proteins that regulate its activity as well as providing clues for the types of effector molecules which are controlled by Arf. Sar1 functions as a molecular switch to control the assembly of protein coats (COPII) that direct vesicle budding from ER. The crystallographic analysis of Sar1 reveals a number of structurally unique features that dictate its function in COPII vesicle formation. In this review, I will summarize the current knowledge of Arf and Sar regulation in vesicular trafficking in mammalian and yeast cells and will highlight recent advances in identifying the elements involved in vesicle formation in plant cells. Additionally, I will briefly discuss the similarities and dissimilarities of vesicle traffic in plant, mammalian and yeast cells.

Traffic jams affect plant development and signal transduction

Analysis of the Arabidopsis thaliana endomembrane system has shown that plant cell viability depends on a properly functioning vacuole and intact vesicular trafficking. The endomembrane system is also essential for various aspects of plant development and signal transduction. In this review, we discuss examples of these newly discovered roles for the endomembrane system in plants, and new experimental approaches and technologies that are based on high-throughput screens, which combine chemical genetics and automated confocal microscopy.

A novel aspartic proteinase is targeted to the secretory pathway and to the vacuole in the moss Physcomitrella patens

In seed plants aspartic proteases (APs) are known to reside in storage vacuoles. Targeting to this compartment is provoked by a secretory signal peptide and the plant-specific insert (PSI). In order to study secretory and vacuolar targeting in a seedless plant, the moss Physcomitrella patens, we isolated a cDNA encoding PpAP1, a novel aspartic proteinase. Sequence alignment with other members of the family of plant APs (EC 3.4.23) revealed a high overall identity and the Pfam motifs for aspartic proteinase and PSI were clearly recognised. In phylogenetic analysis PpAP1 was placed at a very basal position outside of the bigger clusters. Protoplasts transiently expressing the PpAP1 signal peptide fused to GFP showed fluorescence in a well-developed ER-Golgi network. A C-terminal fusion of GFP to the entire PpAP1 protein showed vacuolar fluorescence in transiently transfected protoplasts. Therefore, the vacuole is apparently the in-vivo target for PpAP1. In this study the three-dimensional peculiarity of the endomembrane continuum of ER and Golgi was visualised in a seedless plant for the first time. Above all the functionality of the secretory and the vacuolar targeting signals make them become useful tools for biotechnological approaches.

Morphodynamics of the secretory pathway

A careful scrutiny of the dynamics of secretory compartments in the entire eukaryotic world reveals many common themes. The most fundamental theme is that the Golgi apparatus and related structures appear as compartments formed by the act of transporting cargo. The second common theme is the pivotal importance for endomembrane dynamics of shifting back and forth the equilibrium between full and perforated cisternae along the pathway. The third theme is the role of a continuous membrane flow in anterograde transfer of molecules from the endoplasmic reticulum through the Golgi apparatus. The last common theme is the self-regulatory balance between anatomical continuities and discontinuities of the endomembrane system. As this balance depends on secretory activity, it provides a source of morphological variability among cell types or, for a given cell type, according to environmental conditions. Beyond this first source of variability, it appears that divergent strategies pave the evolutionary routes in different eukaryotic kingdoms. These divergent strategies primarily affect the levels of stacking, of stabilization, and of clustering of the Golgi apparatus. They presumably underscore a trade-off between versatility and stability to adapt the secretory function to the degree of environmental variability. Nonequilibrium secretory structures would provide yeasts, and plants to a lesser extent, with the required versatility to cope with ever changing environments, by contrast to the stabler milieu intérieur of homeothermic animals.