Glucosylceramide biosynthesis is involved in Golgi morphology and protein secretion in plant cells.

Su Melser, Brigitte Batailler, Martine Peypelut, Christel Poujol, Yannick Bellec, Valérie Wattelet-Boyer, Lilly Maneta-Peyret, Jean-Denis Faure, Patrick Moreau
Traffic. 2010-03-10; 11(4): 479-490
DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0854.2009.01030.x

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1. Traffic. 2010 Apr;11(4):479-90. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0854.2009.01030.x. Epub 2009
Dec 17.

Glucosylceramide biosynthesis is involved in Golgi morphology and protein
secretion in plant cells.

Melser S(1), Batailler B, Peypelut M, Poujol C, Bellec Y, Wattelet-Boyer V,
Maneta-Peyret L, Faure JD, Moreau P.

Author information:
(1)Université V. Segalen Bordeaux 2, Laboratoire de Biogenèse Membranaire, CNRS
UMR 5200, 146, rue Léo Saignat, 33076 Bordeaux Cedex, France.

Lipids have an established role as structural components of membranes or as
signalling molecules, but their role as molecular actors in protein secretion is
less clear. The complex sphingolipid glucosylceramide (GlcCer) is enriched in the
plasma membrane and lipid microdomains of plant cells, but compared to animal and
yeast cells, little is known about the role of GlcCer in plant physiology. We
have investigated the influence of GlcCer biosynthesis by glucosylceramide
synthase (GCS) on the efficiency of protein transport through the plant secretory
pathway and on the maintenance of normal Golgi structure. We determined that
GlcCer is synthesized at the beginning of the plant secretory pathway [mainly
endoplasmic reticulum (ER)] and that D,L-threo-1-phenyl-2-decanoyl
amino-3-morpholino-propanol (PDMP) is a potent inhibitor of plant GCS activity in
vitro and in vivo. By an in vivo confocal microscopy approach in tobacco leaves
infiltrated with PDMP, we showed that the decrease in GlcCer biosynthesis
disturbed the transport of soluble and membrane secretory proteins to the cell
surface, as these proteins were partly retained intracellularly in the ER and/or
Golgi. Electron microscopic observations of Arabidopsis thaliana root cells after
high-pressure freezing and freeze substitution evidenced strong morphological
changes in the Golgi bodies, pointing to a link between decreased protein
secretion and perturbations of Golgi structure following inhibition of GlcCer
biosynthesis in plant cells.

DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0854.2009.01030.x
PMID: 20028486 [Indexed for MEDLINE]

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