Abstract
Recent studies revealed that endocytosis is involved in the many plant functions of higher order, although detailed molecular mechanisms of endocytosis remains almost unknown. We are studying how endocytosis participates in the morphogenesis or the response to the environment using Arabidopsis plants, especially focusing on the function of Rab GTPases. In plants, many Rab GTPases including Rab5 members are predicted to regulate endocytosis. There are three Rab5 members in Arabidopsis thaliana, conventional type of Rab5, Ara7 and Rha1, and plant-unique type of Rab5, Ara6. We have already reported that Ara6 is localized on the different population of endosomes from Rha1 and Ara7, and these two populations of endosomes are functionally differentiated. In this meeting, we are reporting the interesting genetic interactions between rab5s and atvam3/syp22, which suggest that RAB5s and AtVAM3/SYP22 participate in at least two different genetic pathways coordinately.
