Trafficking of proteins to the tonoplast and the effects of abiotic stress

植物直接以我们所吃的食物的形式养活世界，也间接地为牲畜提供饲料。预计到2024年，世界人口将增加到约80亿，这一增长加上气候变化的影响，将极大地影响全球农业生产。由于发展中世界很大一部分作物生长在受干旱和土壤条件恶劣影响的地区，因此对这一地区的研究对于发展能够承受这种不利条件的作物至关重要。除了具有弹性外，挑战还在于确保不会对作物产量或质量产生不利影响。植物作为固着生物，必须不断适应其周围环境的变化条件。大多数对人类和/或牲畜营养至关重要的植物蛋白质都是在植物分泌途径中合成和储存的。这是一个动态的、膜结合的细胞器系统，由内质网(ER)、高尔基复合体、内体和液泡组成。液泡是分泌途径的细胞内终点。在许多种子作物中，蛋白质储存在称为蛋白质储存液泡(PSV)的特殊液泡中。液泡膜是液泡膜，含有水通道蛋白等蛋白质，作为水和小分子的运输通道。到目前为止，液泡膜相关蛋白运输到液泡膜的确切机制尚不清楚。该项目旨在阐明沿着液泡膜分泌途径的膜蛋白的分类，以及在非生物胁迫条件下这种运输是如何改变的。模式植物拟南芥的这一基础研究的结果随后可以转化为可持续的作物品种，以便能够开发非生物耐受胁迫的作物。

Plants feed the world, both directly in the food that we eat and indirectly in providing feed for livestock. The world's population is predicted to increase to approximately 8 billion by 2024, and this increase, in combination with the effects of climate change, will greatly affect global agricultural production. Since a major proportion of the developing world's crops are grown in areas affected by drought and poor soil conditions research into this area is paramount in order to develop crops able to withstand such adverse conditions. Alongside being resilient, the challenge is to ensure there are no detrimental effects on crop yield or quality. Plants as sessile organisms have to constantly adapt to the changing conditions of their immediate environment. Most plant proteins essential for human and/or livestock nutrition are synthesised and stored in the plant secretory pathway. This is a system of dynamic, membrane-bound organelles comprising of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), Golgi complex, endosomes and vacuoles. Vacuoles are the intracellular endpoint of the secretory pathway. In many seed crops, proteins are stored in special vacuoles called protein storage vacuoles (PSVs). The vacuolar membrane, the tonoplast, contains proteins such as aquaporins that act as channels for the transport of water and small molecules.To date, no definitive mechanism by which tonoplast associated proteins are trafficked to this vacuolar membrane has been described. This project aims to elucidate the sorting of membrane proteins along the secretory pathway to the tonoplast, and how this trafficking is altered under abiotic stress conditions. Results generated from this fundamental research in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana could subsequently be translated into sustainable crop species in order to enable the development of abiotic stress tolerant crops.