Metabolic analysis of plant intact vacuole

Abstract

Vacuole plays an important role in maintaining the homeostasis of plant cells, that is, the maintenance of the turgor pressure, the accumulation of inorganic ions and metabolites and the degradation of discarded proteins. Until now, however, there are few studies about vacuolar substances analyzed directly and comprehensively. In the former study, we established the isolation method of intact vacuoles from suspension-cultured cells or whole plants and reported the proteomic analysis of the vacuolar membrane proteins. In this study, we analyze the metabolites contained in the vacuolar sap of several plants by using CE-MS and FT-ICR-MS. In consequence, we have detected not only well-known vacuolar substances but also some unexpected substances in the vacuole. We are confirming whether those metabolites actually present in the vacuole, or not.