Wetting of phase-separated droplets on plant vacuole membranes leads to a competition between tonoplast budding and nanotube formation.

ABSTRACT: Seeds of dicotyledonous plants store proteins in dedicated membrane-bounded organelles called protein storage vacuoles (PSVs). Formed during seed development through morphological and functional reconfiguration of lytic vacuoles in embryos [M. Feeney et al., Plant Physiol. 177, 241-254 (2018)], PSVs undergo division during the later stages of seed maturation. Here, we study the biophysical mechanism of PSV morphogenesis in vivo, discovering that micrometer-sized liquid droplets containing storage proteins form within the vacuolar lumen through phase separation and wet the tonoplast (vacuolar membrane). We identify distinct tonoplast shapes that arise in response to membrane wetting by droplets and derive a simple theoretical model that conceptualizes these geometries. Conditions of low mem

SUBMITTER: Kusumaatmaja H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8433588 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature