Skip Navigation


JXB Advance Access originally published online on June 1, 2007
Journal of Experimental Botany 2007 58(10):2391-2407; doi:10.1093/jxb/erm089
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
58/10/2391    most recent
erm089v1
Right arrow E-letters: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Müntz, K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Müntz, K.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Müntz, K.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author [2007]. Published by Oxford University Press [on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology]. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Review

Protein dynamics and proteolysis in plant vacuoles

Klaus Müntz*

Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK), Corrensstr. 3, D-06466 Gatersleben, Germany

* E-mail: muentz{at}IPK-Gatersleben.de

Plant cells cannot live without their vacuoles. The tissues and organs of a plant contain a wide variety of differentiated and specialized vacuoles—even a single plant cell can possess two or more types of vacuoles. Vacuolar proteins are encoded by nuclear genes and synthesized in the cytoplasm. Their transport into the vacuolar compartment is under cytoplasmic control. Transcription seems to be a major control level for differential protein supply to the vacuoles. It is at this level that vacuole differentiation and functions are mainly integrated into cellular processes. Recycling amino acids generated by protein degradation is a major function of the vacuole. This is most evident when storage proteins are mobilized in storage tissues of generative or vegetative organs in order to nourish the embryo of germinating seeds or sprouting buds. When specific proteins are transferred to the vacuole for immediate degradation this compartment contributes to the adaptation of protein complexes in response to changes in developmental or environmental conditions. Vacuolar proteases are involved in protein degradation during reversible senescence and programmed cell death, which is also called irreversible senescence. Vacuoles contribute to defence against pathogens and herbivores by limited and unlimited proteolysis. Our present knowledge on functions and processes of vacuolar protein dynamics in plants is reviewed. Research perspectives are deduced.

Key words: Complete protein breakdown, differential protein supply to vacuoles, limited proteolysis, lytic vacuoles, PCD, protein storage vacuoles, vacuolar protein mobilization, vacuolar proteins, vacuolar protein transfer, vacuolar proteolysis in defence

This paper is dedicated with gratitude to Prof. Dr Ulrich Wobus on the occasion of his 65th birthday and his retirement after 15 years as director of IPK, Gatersleben.

Received 1 November 2006; Revised 25 March 2007 Accepted 26 March 2007


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.