Protein trafficking in plants articles from across Nature Portfolio

Nanobody-epitope interaction-based analysis of the Arabidopsis VACUOLAR SORTING RECEPTOR7 (VSR7) suggests immobilization-based ligand transport to the TGN/EE and ends due to acidity-driven ligand release and clathrin-dependent receptor recycling.

The authors find that cotton bollworms secrete effectors into plant to weaken JA signaling via host endocytosis system while JA inhibits endocytosis to restrict effector imports. The defense and counter-defense loop between effector and JA reflects a robust arms race between plant and insect.

Defining plant defense machinery against pathogens is significant in cell biology and crop yield. TGNap1, a TGN and microtubule-binding protein, is required for defense and efficient anti-microbial protein secretion, linking secretion and cytoskeleton.

The exocyst complex is essential for plant development. Here the authors reveal a link between the exocyst complex and the ER network in regulating the degradation of exocytic compartments, stigma senescence and flower receptivity

Editing of a rice gene that has a role in phospholipid synthesis has endowed rice plants with broad-spectrum resistance to disease, including protection from common bacterial and fungal pathogens, without decreasing the yield.

The partitioning membrane of dividing plant cells is made by vesicle fusion, involving complex-forming membrane-anchored SNARE proteins. The authors show that the disassembly of cis-SNARE complexes by NSF ATPase enables the formation of trans-SNARE complexes, which mediates vesicle fusion.

Short-term heat stress affects the morphology and function of the plant Golgi apparatus in a reversible manner. The autophagy component AUTOPHAGY 8 relocalizes to heat stress-induced vacuolated Golgi cisternae and contributes to their restoration, revealing a role of this protein outside of the canonical autophagy pathway.

Plant cells possess a bewildering number of different intracellular transport routes. A comprehensive interactome-based analysis on a set of core players unravels novel common components and surprising connections.

The TPLATE complex (TPC) is an ancient multi-subunit adaptor complex, essential for clathrin-mediated endocytosis in plants. We found that the evolutionary specific SH3 domain on the large TPC subunit, TASH3, recognizes ubiquitinated cargo proteins at the plasma membrane, providing a link between endocytosis and internalization of ubiquitinated proteins.

The electrostatic charge at the inner surface of the plasma membrane is strongly negative in higher organisms. A new study shows that phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate plays a critical role in establishing plasma membrane surface charge in Arabidopsis, which regulates the correct localization of signalling components.