Molecular Plant
Volume 8, Issue 3, 2 March 2015, Pages 389-398
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Research Article
BEACH-Domain Proteins Act Together in a Cascade to Mediate Vacuolar Protein Trafficking and Disease Resistance in Arabidopsis

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molp.2014.11.015Get rights and content
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Abstract

Membrane trafficking to the protein storage vacuole (PSV) is a specialized process in seed plants. However, this trafficking mechanism to PSV is poorly understood. Here, we show that three types of Beige and Chediak-Higashi (BEACH)-domain proteins contribute to both vacuolar protein transport and effector-triggered immunity (ETI). We screened a green fluorescent seed (GFS) library of Arabidopsis mutants with defects in vesicle trafficking and isolated two allelic mutants gfs3 and gfs12 with a defect in seed protein transport to PSV. The gene responsible for the mutant phenotype was found to encode a putative protein belonging to group D of BEACH-domain proteins, which possess kinase domains. Disruption of other BEACH-encoding loci in the gfs12 mutant showed that BEACH homologs acted in a cascading manner for PSV trafficking. The epistatic genetic interactions observed among BEACH homologs were also found in the ETI responses of the gfs12 and gfs12 bchb-1 mutants, which showed elevated avirulent bacterial growth. The GFS12 kinase domain interacted specifically with the pleckstrin homology domain of BchC1. These results suggest that a cascade of multiple BEACH-domain proteins contributes to vacuolar protein transport and plant defense.

Key words

BEACH-domain protein
Arabidopsis thaliana
vacuolar protein transport
protein storage vacuoles
plant immunity

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Published by the Molecular Plant Shanghai Editorial Office in association with Cell Press, an imprint of Elsevier Inc., on behalf of CSPB and IPPE, SIBS, CAS.

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Present address: Department of Plant Biology and Forest Genetics, Uppsala BioCenter, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and Linnean Centre of Plant Biology, Uppsala SE-75007, Sweden

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Present address: Microbial and Plant Genomics Institute, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN 55108, USA

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Present address: RIKEN Innovation Center, RIKEN 2-1, Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan