SNARE Molecules in Marchantia polymorpha: Unique and Conserved Features of the Membrane Fusion Machinery

We examined the subcellular distribution of a major portion of these SNARE proteins by expressing Citrine-tagged SNARE proteins in M. polymorpha, and the results showed that some of the SNARE proteins were targeted to different compartments from their orthologous products in Arabidopsis thaliana. For example, MpSYP12B was localized to the surface of the oil body, which is a unique organelle in liverworts. Furthermore, we identified three VAMP72 members with distinctive structural characteristics, whose N-terminal extensions contain consensus sequences for N-myristoylation. These results suggest that M. polymorpha has acquired unique membrane trafficking pathways associated with newly acquired machinery components during evolution.

Source: Plant and Cell Physiology - February 23, 2016 Category: Cytology Authors: Kanazawa, T., Era, A., Minamino, N., Shikano, Y., Fujimoto, M., Uemura, T., Nishihama, R., Yamato, K. T., Ishizaki, K., Nishiyama, T., Kohchi, T., Nakano, A., Ueda, T. Tags: Special Focus Issue - Regular Papers Source Type: research