Plant cell vacuoles occupy up to 90% of the cell volume and, beyond their physiological function, are constantly subjected to water and solute exchange. The osmotic flow and vacuole volume dynamics relies on the vacuole membrane -the tonoplast- and its capacity to regulate its permeability to both water and solutes. The osmotic permeability coefficient (Pf ) is the parameter that better charact...

The Saccharomyces cerevisiae protein Fablp is the archetypal type III phosphatidyl inositol phosphate kinase. This family of enzymes is universal to all eukaryotes and is responsible for the synthesis of phosphatidylinositol 3,5-bisphosphate from phosphatidylinositol 3phosphate. In S. cerevisiae, Fablp regulates a number of cellular processes via the production of phosphatidylinositol 3,5-bisph...

Autophagy encompasses several processes by which cytosol and organelles can be delivered to the vacuole/lysosome for breakdown and recycling. We sought to investigate autophagy of the nucleus (nucleophagy) in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae by employing genetically encoded fluorescent reporters. The use of such a nuclear reporter, n-Rosella, proved the basis of robust assays based on either ...

The vacuole in plant cells plays various roles that are important in the maintenance of cell organization and function, yet the vacuolar function varies greatly depending on the type of cell and on the stage of plant development. The regulation of deposition of various proteins with specific functions in the vacuole is a prerequisite for the expression and maintenance of vacuolar functions. Tra...

SYNOPSIS. The nephridial system of T . pyriformis consists of a contractile vacuole with its two pores and an elaborate network of tubules. Both the vacuole and its tubules constitute a continuous system of single membranes of approximately 70 A in thickness. TubuLr fibrils of about 250 A extend from the pore wall t o the vacuole membrane and appear to function in dilating the pore prior to sys...

The vacuole in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae plays a number of essential roles, and to provide some of these required functions the vacuole harbors at least seven distinct proteases. These proteases exhibit a range of activities and different classifications, and they follow unique paths to arrive at their ultimate, common destination in the cell. This review will first summarize the major...

Vesicle fusion governs many important biological processes, and imbalances in the regulation of membrane fusion can lead to a variety of diseases such as diabetes and neurological disorders. Here we show that the Vibrio parahaemolyticus effector protein VopQ is a potent inhibitor of membrane fusion based on an in vitro yeast vacuole fusion model. Previously, we demonstrated that VopQ binds to t...

During cell division, organelles are distributed to distinct locations at specific times. For the yeast vacuole, the myosin V motor, Myo2, and its vacuole-specific cargo adaptor, Vac17, regulate where the vacuole is deposited and the timing of vacuole movement. In this paper, we show that Mmr1 functions as a mitochondria-specific cargo adaptor early in the cell cycle and that Mmr1 binds Myo2 at...

We have studied fluid secretion by the contractile vacuole apparatuss of the trypanosomatid flagellate Leptomonas collosoma with thin sections and freeze-fracture replicas of cells stabilized by ultrarapid freezing without prior fixation or cryoprotection. The ultrarapid freezing has revealed membrane specializations related to fluid segregation and transport as well as membrane rearrangements ...