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

植物养活了世界，既直接为我们提供食物，又间接为牲畜提供饲料。据预测，到2024年，世界人口将增加到约80亿，这一增加加上气候变化的影响，将极大地影响全球农业生产。由于发展中国家的作物大部分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至关重要，以便培育出能够承受这种不利条件的作物。除了要有弹性外，我们面临的挑战是确保作物产量或质量不会受到不利影响。植物作为固着生物体，必须不断地适应周围环境的变化。人类和/或牲畜营养所必需的大多数植物蛋白质在植物分泌途径中合成和储存。这是一个动态的，膜结合的细胞器系统，包括内质网（ER），高尔基复合体，内体和空泡。胆固醇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泡（PSV）的特殊液泡中。液泡膜，液泡膜，含有蛋白质，如水通道蛋白，作为运输水和小分子的通道。到目前为止，还没有明确的机制，液泡膜相关的蛋白质运输到这个液泡膜已被描述。本项目旨在阐明膜蛋白沿着分泌途径到液泡膜的分类，以及这种运输在非生物胁迫条件下如何改变。在模式植物拟南芥中进行的这一基础研究所产生的结果随后可以转化为可持续的作物物种，以便能够开发非生物胁迫耐受作物。

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.