Tonoplast Protein Trafficking in Arabidopsis

液泡是植物体内的重要细胞器，对人类健康具有重要意义。事实上，我们饮食中的一个重要部分，包括豆类和玉米中的必需氨基酸，来自储存在液泡中的分子。液泡膜的完整性对于代谢物和激素的储存、离子的隔离和细胞膨大的维持是重要的。为了提高植物的抗逆性，并最终增加植物的营养价值供人类食用，我们必须了解如何调控液泡膜的生物发生。这项研究的长期目标是确定和表征液泡膜蛋白的运输机制。将利用遗传、生化和细胞生物学方法的综合战略来识别和表征破坏膜蛋白向液泡运输的突变和化学抑制物。其具体目的是：1)鉴定膜蛋白靶向性受损的突变体。2)找出导致液泡膜蛋白错位的小分子抑制物。突变体和抑制剂都将解偶联不同的膜蛋白到液泡的靶向途径。这项研究将对理解液泡生物发生和提高提高液泡含量植物的能力产生重大影响。该项目的更广泛影响包括培训少数本科生和研究生在分子生物学和显微镜方面的最新技术。此外，维克县公立学校系统的一名教师和少数族裔高中生将作为这项研究计划的一部分。

The vacuole is an essential organelle in plants and has major implications for human health. In fact, an important portion of our diet, including the essential amino acids found in beans and corn, comes from molecules stored in the vacuole. The integrity of the vacuolar membrane is important for the storage of metabolites and hormones, the sequestration of ions and the maintenance of cellular turgor. To improve plant stress tolerance and ultimately increase the nutritional value of plants for human consumption, it is essential that we understand how to regulate vacuolar membrane biogenesis. The long-term goal of this research is to identify and characterize the trafficking machinery for vacuolar membrane proteins. An integrated strategy of genetic, biochemical and cell biological approaches will be utilized to identify and characterize mutations and chemical inhibitors that disrupt the trafficking of membrane proteins to the vacuole. The specific aims are to: 1) Identify mutants impaired in the targeting of membrane proteins. 2) Identify small inhibitors that induce mis-localization of vacuolar membrane proteins. Both mutants and inhibitors will uncouple the distinct targeting pathways of membrane proteins to the vacuole. This research will have a major impact in the understanding of vacuole biogenesis and the ability to improve plants with enhanced vacuolar content.The broader impacts of this project include the training of minority undergraduate and graduate students in state-of-the-art techniques in molecular biology and microscopy. In addition, a teacher and minority high-school students from the Wake County public schools system will be engaged as part of this research program.