Abstract
Vacuole is the largest organelle in plant cells, and contributes to increase in cell volume and intercellular homeostasis. Many kinds of substances are stored in the vacuole and working for cellular functions. Since various membrane proteins must be involving in vacuolar membrane transports, we carried out proteomic analysis of the vacuolar membrane proteins, and found many uncharacterized proteins. Although, V-type H+-ATPase and H+-PPase, which energize the vacuolar membrane, have been well-studied at molecular level, their functional statuses in situ are not fully analyzed, yet.
In this study, we analyzed the subcellular localization of those vacuolar membrane proteins using immunofluorescent staining. The V-type H+-ATPase and H+-PPase showed dot-like localization in the cytoplasm. In order to investigate their distribution on the vacuolar membrane, we isolated intact vacuoles from suspension culture cells or mesophyll cells. We discuss the distribution of transporters on these isolated vacuoles, too.
