The relationship between endomembranes and the plant cytoskeleton.
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Actin Cytoskeleton↗
Biomedical subjects
Chris Hawes
Publications and source records attributed to Chris Hawes.
ER quality control can lead to retrograde transport from the ER lumen to the cytosol and the nucleoplasm in plants.
Quality control in the secretory pathway is a fundamental step in preventing deleterious effects that may arise by the release of malfolded proteins into the cell or apoplast. Our aims were to visualise and analyse the disposal route followed by aberrant proteins within a plant cell in vivo using fluorescent protein technology. A green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion was detected in the cytosol and the nucleoplasm in spite of the presence of an N-terminal secretory signal peptide. In contrast to secreted GFP, the fusion protein was retained in the cells where it was degraded slowly, albeit at a rate much higher than that of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-retained derivative GFP-HDEL. The fusion protein could not be stabilised by inhibitors of transport or the cytosolic proteasome. However, the protein is a strong lumenal binding protein (BiP) ligand. Complete signal peptide processing even after long-term expression in virus-infected leaves rules out the possibility that the documented accumulation in the cytosol and nucleoplasm is because of the bypassing of the translocation pores. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that the fusion protein is disposed off from the ER via a retrograde translocation back to the cytosol. Moreover, accumulation in the nucleoplasm was shown to be microtubule dependent unlike the well-documented diffusion of cytosolically expressed GFP into the nucleoplasm. The apparent active transport of the GFP fusion into the nucleoplasm may indicate an as yet undiscovered feature of the ER-associated degradation (ERAD) pathway and explain the insensitivity to degradation by proteasome inhibitors.
Biological Transport↗
Protein transport in plant cells: in and out of the Golgi.
In plant cells, the Golgi apparatus is the key organelle for polysaccharide and glycolipid synthesis, protein glycosylation and protein sorting towards various cellular compartments. Protein import from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a highly dynamic process, and new data suggest that transport, at least of soluble proteins, occurs via bulk flow. In this Botanical Briefing, we review the latest data on ER/Golgi inter-relations and the models for transport between the two organelles. Whether vesicles are involved in this transport event or if direct ER-Golgi connections exist are questions that are open to discussion. Whereas the majority of proteins pass through the Golgi on their way to other cell destinations, either by vesicular shuttles or through maturation of cisternae from the cis- to the trans-face, a number of membrane proteins reside in the different Golgi cisternae. Experimental evidence suggests that the length of the transmembrane domain is of crucial importance for the retention of proteins within the Golgi. In non-dividing cells, protein transport out of the Golgi is either directed towards the plasma membrane/cell wall (secretion) or to the vacuolar system. The latter comprises the lytic vacuole and protein storage vacuoles. In general, transport to either of these from the Golgi depends on different sorting signals and receptors and is mediated by clathrin-coated and dense vesicles, respectively. Being at the heart of the secretory pathway, the Golgi (transiently) accommodates regulatory proteins of secretion (e.g. SNAREs and small GTPases), of which many have been cloned in plants over the last decade. In this context, we present a list of regulatory proteins, along with structural and processing proteins, that have been located to the Golgi and the 'trans-Golgi network' by microscopy.
Endoplasmic Reticulum↗
A greener world: the revolution in plant bioimaging.
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Biotechnology↗
Redistribution of membrane proteins between the Golgi apparatus and endoplasmic reticulum in plants is reversible and not dependent on cytoskeletal networks.
We have fused the signal anchor sequences of a rat sialyl transferase and a human galactosyl transferase along with the Arabidopsis homologue of the yeast HDEL receptor (AtERD2) to the jellyfish green fluorescent protein (GFP) and transiently expressed the chimeric genes in tobacco leaves. All constructs targeted the Golgi apparatus and co-expression with DsRed fusions along with immunolabelling of stably transformed BY2 cells indicated that the fusion proteins located all Golgi stacks. Exposure of tissue to brefeldin A (BFA) resulted in the reversible redistribution of ST-GFP into the endoplasmic reticulum. This effect occurred in the presence of a protein synthesis inhibitor and also in the absence of microtubules or actin filaments. Likewise, reformation of Golgi stacks on removal of BFA was not dependent on either protein synthesis or the cytoskeleton. These data suggest that ER to Golgi transport in the cell types observed does not require cytoskeletal-based mechanochemical motor systems. However, expression of an inhibitory mutant of Arabidopsis Rab 1b (AtRab1b(N121I) significantly slowed down the recovery of Golgi fluorescence in BFA treated cells indicating a role for Rab1 in regulating ER to Golgi anterograde transport.
Animals↗
The destination for single-pass membrane proteins is influenced markedly by the length of the hydrophobic domain.
The tonoplast was proposed as a default destination of membrane-bound proteins without specific targeting signals. To investigate the nature of this targeting, we created type I fusion proteins with green fluorescent protein followed by the transmembrane domain of the human lysosomal protein LAMP1. We varied the length of the transmembrane domain from 23 to either 20 or 17 amino acids by deletion within the hydrophobic domain. The resulting chimeras, called TM23, TM20, and TM17, were expressed either transiently or stably in tobacco. TM23 clearly accumulated in the plasmalemma, as confirmed by immunoelectron microscopy. In contrast, TM17 clearly was retained in the endoplasmic reticulum, and TM20 accumulated in small mobile structures. The nature of the TM20-labeled compartments was investigated by coexpression with a marker localized mainly in the Golgi apparatus, AtERD2, fused to a yellow fluorescent protein. The strict colocalization of both fluorescent proteins indicated that TM20 accumulated in the Golgi apparatus. To further test the default destination of type I membrane proteins, green fluorescent protein was fused to the 19-amino acid transmembrane domain of the plant vacuolar sorting receptor BP-80. The resulting chimera also accumulated in the Golgi instead of in post-Golgi compartments, where native BP-80 localized. Additionally, when the transmembrane domain of BP-80 was lengthened to 22 amino acids, the reporter escaped the Golgi and accumulated in the plasma membrane. Thus, the tonoplast apparently is not a favored default destination for type I membrane proteins in plants. Moreover, the target membrane where the chimera concentrates is not unique and depends at least in part on the length of the membrane-spanning domain.
Amino Acid Sequence↗
Membrane protein transport between the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi in tobacco leaves is energy dependent but cytoskeleton independent: evidence from selective photobleaching.
The mechanisms that control protein transport between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the Golgi apparatus are poorly characterized in plants. Here, we examine in tobacco leaves the structural relationship between Golgi and ER membranes using electron microscopy and demonstrate that Golgi membranes contain elements that are in close association and/or in direct contact with the ER. We further visualized protein trafficking between the ER and the Golgi using Golgi marker proteins tagged with green fluorescent protein. Using photobleaching techniques, we showed that Golgi membrane markers constitutively cycle to and from the Golgi in an energy-dependent and N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive manner. We found that membrane protein transport toward the Golgi occurs independently of the cytoskeleton and does not require the Golgi to be motile along the surface of the ER. Brefeldin A treatment blocked forward trafficking of Golgi proteins before their redistribution into the ER. Our results indicate that in plant cells, the Golgi apparatus is a dynamic membrane system whose components continuously traffic via membrane trafficking pathways regulated by brefeldin A- and N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive machinery.
Base Sequence↗
Localization of enzymically enhanced heavy metal accumulation by Citrobacter sp. and metal accumulation in vitro by liposomes containing entrapped enzyme.
A heavy-metal-accumulating Citrobacter sp. has been used for the treatment of metal-laden industrial wastes. Metal uptake is mediated via a cell-bound phosphatase that liberates inorganic phosphate which precipitates with heavy metals as cell-bound metal phosphate. A phosphatase-efficient mutant accumulated little UO(2)2+, while a phosphatase-overproducing mutant accumulated correspondingly more metal, with a uranium loading equivalent to the bacterial dry weight achieved after 6 h exposure of resting cells to uranyl ion in the presence of phosphatase substrate (glycerol 2-phosphate). The phosphatase, visualized by immunogold labelling in the parent and overproducing strains, but not seen in the deficient mutant, was held within the periplasmic space with, in some cells, a higher concentration at the polar regions. Enzyme was also associated with the outer membrane and found extracellularly. Accumulated uranyl phosphate was visible as cell-surface- and polar-localized deposits, identified by energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), proton-induced X-ray emission analysis (PIXE) and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) as polycrystalline HUO2PO4.4H2O. Nucleation sites for initiation of biocrystallization were identified at the cytoplasmic and outer membranes, prompting consideration of an in vitro biocatalytic system for metal waste remediation. Phosphatidylcholine-based liposomes with entrapped phosphatase released phosphate comparably to whole cells, as shown by 31P NMR spectroscopy in the presence of 'NMR-silent' 112Cd2+. Application of liposome-immobilized enzyme to the decontamination of uranyl solutions was, however, limited by rapid fouling of the biocatalyst by deposited uranyl phosphate. It is suggested that the architecture of the bacterial cell surface provides a means of access of uranyl ion to the inner and outer membranes and enzymically liberated phosphate in a way that minimizes fouling in whole cells.
Bacterial Proteins↗
Iron acquisition from transferrin and lactoferrin by Pseudomonas aeruginosa pyoverdin.
Growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 15692 was promoted when the strain was cultured in an iron-depleted succinate medium, supplemented with transferrin at 30%, 60% and 100% and lactoferrin at 60% and 100% iron-saturation. No significant differences between cell growth and pyoverdin production were observed when transferrin iron saturation was increased from 30% to 100%; however, cell growth and pyoverdin production were strongly dependent on lactoferrin iron saturation. Lower lactoferrin iron saturation (< 30%) resulted in more pyoverdin production and reduced cell growth. Incubation of pyoverdin (1.0 microM) with 10.0 microM transferrin (30%, 60% and 100% iron-saturated) or lactoferrin (60% and 100% iron-saturated) led to quenching of pyoverdin fluorescence. Also, 24 h incubation of pyoverdin (20.0 microM) with these two proteins (20.0 microM, 30%, 60% and 100% iron-saturated transferrin and 60% and 100% iron-saturated lactoferrin) at 25 degrees C resulted in increased absorbance at 460 nm. Both the fluorescence quenching and absorbance increases were iron-saturation-dependent. Taken together, these results support the conclusion that at physiological pH, P. aeruginosa pyoverdin can acquire from partially iron-saturated transferrin or lactoferrin.
Fluorescence↗