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JXB Advance Access published online on May 12, 2009
Journal of Experimental Botany, doi:10.1093/jxb/erp136
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© 2009 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. This paper is available online free of all access charges (see http://jxb.oxfordjournals.org/open_access.html for further details)

RESEARCH PAPER

Wortmannin induces homotypic fusion of plant prevacuolar compartments*

Junqi Wang, Yi Cai, Yansong Miao, Sheung Kwan Lam {dagger} and Liwen Jiang{ddagger}

Department of Biology and Molecular Biotechnology Program, Centre for Cell and Developmental Biology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China

{ddagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ljiang{at}cuhk.edu.hk

Wortmannin, a specific inhibitor of phosphatidyl-inositol 3-kinase, is a useful tool for studying protein trafficking and identifying organelles in the plant secretory and endocytic pathways. It has recently been demonstrated that wortmannin at 16.5 µM or 33 µM caused the prevacuolar compartments (PVCs), identified as multivesicular bodies (MVBs) by their enrichment in vacuolar sorting receptor (VSRs) proteins and the BP-80 reporter, to form small vacuoles rapidly. However, the source(s) of the membrane needed for the rapid enlargement of PVCs/MVBs has been unclear. Using both confocal immunofluorescence and immunogold EM with high pressure freeze substitution of plant samples, it has been demonstrated here that wortmannin induces homotypic fusions of PVCs/MVBs thus providing an explanation for the demand for extra membrane. In addition, possible wortmannin-induced fusions between the trans-Golgi network (TGN) and PVC, as well as between the small internal vesicles and PVC membrane, were also observed and they may also contribute to the membranes needed for PVC enlargement. In contrast to mammalian cells and yeast, wortmannin-induced fusion of PVCs appears to be unique to plants.

Key words: Homotypic fusion, multivesicular body, prevacuolar compartment, trans-Golgi network, wortmannin

* Upon request, all novel materials described in this publication will be made available in a timely manner for non-commercial research purposes, subject to the requisite permission from any third-party owners of all or parts of the material. Obtaining any permission will be the responsibility of the requestor.

{dagger} Present address: Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

Received 7 February 2009; Revised 4 April 2009 Accepted 6 April 2009


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