COMPARTMENTATION OF PROTEINS IN THE ENDOMEMBRANE SYSTEM OF PLANT CELLS

Abstract

This review focuses on four interrelated processes in the plant endomembrane system: compartmentation of proteins in subdomains of the endoplasmic reticulum, mechanisms that determine whether storage proteins are retained within the ER lumen or transported out, the origin and function of biochemically distinct vacuoles or prevacuolar organelles, and the cellular processes by which proteins are sorted to vacuolar compartments. We postulate that ER-localized protein bodies are formed by a series of orderly events of protein synthesis, protein concentration, and protein assembly in subdomains of the ER. Protein concentration, which facilitates protein-to-protein interactions and subsequent protein assembly, may be achieved by the interactions with chaperones and by the localization of storage protein mRNAs. We also describe recent developments on the coexistence of two biochemically distinguishable vacuolar compartments, the possible direct role of the ER in vacuole biogenesis, and proposed mechanisms for transport of proteins from the ER or Golgi apparatus to the vacuole.