Abstract
Organelles in the plant endomembrane system are connected by vesicular transport and maintain dynamic membrane traffic. Proteins are actively selected and transported along the secretory, vacuolar and endocytic pathways. We have been studying the roles of small GTPases as molecular switches in these trafficking processes and are now trying to elucidate mechanisms of their regulation. Live cell imaging turns out to be very powerful in such studies. We are now developing a new very-high-performance confocal laser miscroscopic system in collaboration with Yokogawa, NHK, and Hitachi Kokusai, which enables real-time color imaging. With this technology, we are now able to observe dynamic behaviors of multiple organelles simultaneously. In this symposium, we will present our new results indicating 1) differentiation of endosomes, 2) role of endocytosis in cell polarization, 3) involvement of actin filaments in endosomal movement, 4) dynamic behavior of vacuolar membranes, and so forth.
