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  • The EMBO Journal (2000) 19, 5701 - 5710
  • doi:10.1093/emboj/19.21.5701

AtPex14p maintains peroxisomal functions by determining protein targeting to three kinds of plant peroxisomes

Makoto Hayashi1,2, Kazumasa Nito1,3, Kanako Toriyama-Kato1, Maki Kondo1, Tomoyuki Yamaya2 and Mikio Nishimura1,3

  1. Department of Cell Biology, National Institute for Basic Biology, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan
  2. Department of Applied Plant Science, Graduate School of Agricultural Sciences, Tohoku University, 1-1 Tsutsumidori-Amamiyamachi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 981-8555, Japan
  3. Department of Molecular Biomechanics, School of Life Science, Graduate University of Advanced Studies, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan

Correspondence to:

Mikio Nishimura, E-mail: mikosome@nibb.ac.jp

Received 26 June 2000; Accepted 15 September 2000; Revised 14 August 2000

We previously isolated an Arabidopsis peroxisome-deficient ped2 mutant by its resistance to 2,4-dichlorophenoxybutyric acid. Here, we describe the isolation of a gene responsible for this deficiency, called the PED2 gene, by positional cloning and confirmed its identity by complementation analysis. The amino acid sequence of the predicted protein product is similar to that of human Pex14p, which is a key component of the peroxisomal protein import machinery. Therefore, we decided to call it AtPex14p. Analyses of the ped2 mutant revealed that AtPex14p controls intracellular transport of both peroxisome targeting signal (PTS)1- and PTS2-containing proteins into three different types of peroxisomes, namely glyoxysomes, leaf peroxisomes and unspecialized peroxisomes. Mutation in the PED2 gene results in reduction of enzymes in all of these functionally differentiated peroxisomes. The reduction in these enzymes induces pleiotropic defects, such as fatty acid degradation, photorespiration and the morphology of peroxisomes. These data suggest that the AtPex14p has a common role in maintaining physiological functions of each of these three kinds of plant peroxisomes by determining peroxisomal protein targeting.

  • Keywords:

    • beta-oxidation,
    • peroxisome,
    • pex14,
    • photorespiration,
    • protein targeting