All eukaryotic cells present at the cell surface a specific set of plasma membrane proteins that modulate responses to internal and external cues and whose activity is also regulated by protein degradation. We characterized the lytic vacuole-dependent degradation of membrane proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana by means of in vivo visualization of vacuolar targeting combined with quantitative protein analysis. We show that the vacuolar targeting pathway is used by multiple cargos including PIN-FORMED (PIN) efflux carriers for the phytohormone auxin. In vivo visualization of PIN2 vacuolar targeting revealed its differential degradation in response to environmental signals, such as gravity. In contrast to polar PIN delivery to the basal plasma membrane, which depends on the vesicle trafficking regulator ARF-GEF GNOM, PIN sorting to the lytic vacuolar pathway requires additional brefeldin Asensitive ARF-GEF activity. Furthermore, we identified putative retromer components SORTING NEXIN1 (SNX1) and VACUOLAR PROTEIN SORTING29 (VPS29) as important factors in this pathway and propose that the retromer complex acts to retrieve PIN proteins from a late/pre-vacuolar compartment back to the recycling pathways. Our data suggest that ARF GEF-and retromer-dependent processes regulate PIN sorting to the vacuole in an antagonistic manner and illustrate instrumentalization of this mechanism for fine-tuning the auxin fluxes during gravitropic response.gravitropism ͉ polar auxin transport ͉ posttranslational regulation ͉ vesicle trafficking

Plant vacuoles are essential multifunctional organelles largely distinct from similar organelles in other eukaryotes. Embryo protein storage vacuoles and the lytic vacuoles that perform a general degradation function are the best characterized, but little is known about the biogenesis and transition between these vacuolar types. Here, we designed a fluorescent markerbased forward genetic screen in Arabidopsis thaliana and identified a protein affected trafficking2 (pat2) mutant, whose lytic vacuoles display altered morphology and accumulation of proteins. Unlike other mutants affecting the vacuole, pat2 is specifically defective in the biogenesis, identity, and function of lytic vacuoles but shows normal sorting of proteins to storage vacuoles. PAT2 encodes a putative b-subunit of adaptor protein complex 3 (AP-3) that can partially complement the corresponding yeast mutant. Manipulations of the putative AP-3 b adaptin functions suggest a plant-specific role for the evolutionarily conserved AP-3 b in mediating lytic vacuole performance and transition of storage into the lytic vacuoles independently of the main prevacuolar compartment-based trafficking route.

Plant architecture is influenced by the polar, cell-to-cell transport of auxin that is primarily provided and regulated by plasma membrane efflux catalysts of the PIN-FORMED and B family of ABC transporter (ABCB) classes. The latter were shown to require the functionality of the FK506 binding protein42 TWISTED DWARF1 (TWD1), although underlying mechanisms are unclear. By genetic manipulation of TWD1 expression, we show here that TWD1 affects shootward root auxin reflux and, thus, downstream developmental traits, such as epidermal twisting and gravitropism of the root. Using immunological assays, we demonstrate a predominant lateral, mainly outward-facing, plasma membrane location for TWD1 in the root epidermis characterized by the lateral marker ABC transporter G36/PLEIOTROPIC DRUG-RESISTANCE8/PENETRATION3. At these epidermal plasma membrane domains, TWD1 colocalizes with nonpolar ABCB1. In planta bioluminescence resonance energy transfer analysis was used to verify specific ABC transporter B1 (ABCB1)-TWD1 interaction. Our data support a model in which TWD1 promotes lateral ABCB-mediated auxin efflux via protein-protein interaction at the plasma membrane, minimizing reflux from the root apoplast into the cytoplasm.