2019 journal article

A whole-cell electron tomography model of vacuole biogenesis in Arabidopsis root cells

Nature Plants, 5(1), 95–105.

Contributors: Y. Cui*, W. Cao*, Y. He*, Q. Zhao*, M. Wakazaki*, X. Zhuang*, J. Gao*, Y. Zeng* ...

MeSH headings : Arabidopsis / cytology; Arabidopsis Proteins / genetics; Arabidopsis Proteins / metabolism; Cell Fusion; Electron Microscope Tomography / methods; Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors / genetics; Imaging, Three-Dimensional; Multivesicular Bodies / metabolism; Mutation; Plant Cells; Plant Roots / cytology; Plants, Genetically Modified; SNARE Proteins / metabolism; Vacuoles / physiology; Vesicular Transport Proteins / genetics
TL;DR: The vacuole in Arabidopsis root cells is presented at nanometre resolution by 3D whole-cell tomography, suggesting a cellular mechanism for plant vacuoles formation. (via Semantic Scholar)
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Source: ORCID
Added: January 30, 2019

Plant vacuoles are dynamic organelles that play essential roles in regulating growth and development. Two distinct models of vacuole biogenesis have been proposed: separate vacuoles are formed by the fusion of endosomes, or the single interconnected vacuole is derived from the endoplasmic reticulum. These two models are based on studies of two-dimensional (2D) transmission electron microscopy and 3D confocal imaging, respectively. Here, we performed 3D electron tomography at nanometre resolution to illustrate vacuole biogenesis in Arabidopsis root cells. The whole-cell electron tomography analysis first identified unique small vacuoles (SVs; 400-1,000 nm in diameter) as nascent vacuoles in early developmental cortical cells. These SVs contained intraluminal vesicles and were mainly derived/matured from multivesicular body (MVB) fusion. The whole-cell vacuole models and statistical analysis on wild-type root cells of different vacuole developmental stages demonstrated that central vacuoles were derived from MVB-to-SV transition and subsequent fusions of SVs. Further electron tomography analysis on mutants defective in MVB formation/maturation or vacuole fusion demonstrated that central vacuole formation required functional MVBs and membrane fusion machineries.