The structure and dynamics of the plant endoplasmic reticulum - WCUB, ENWW
Lead Research Organisation:
Oxford Brookes University
Department Name: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Abstract
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) acts as a subcellular \superhighway" that connects membrane compartments [1]. The ER connects to the plasma membrane (PM) at stable ER-PM contact sites (EPCSs) [2] [3] which have been implicated in lipid transport, infection response and may act as \organizational hubs" for the cytoskeleton (reviewed in [4]). Two components of the plant EPCSs have been identified: NET3C, an actin binding protein which connects EPCSs to the actin cytoskeleton, and VAP27 a member of the vesicle-associated membrane protein (VAMP)-associated protein (VAP) family [5]. The role of these EPCS components in controlling ER structure will be assessed using dominant-negative mutants and over-expression mutants, and the effect on ER dynamics analysed using novel ER network analysis software. Using a novel molecular toolbox it is now possible to transiently modify ER structure. The ER is composed of two morphologically distinct domains { sheets and tubules, that are joined at three-way junctions (reviewed in [6]). These structures are present in different relative proportions in different cell types depending on the cells secretory requirements [7]. Transient over-expression of Arabidopsis thaliana reticulon proteins has been shown to induce tubular structures within the ER [8, 9], whilst transient over-expression of the A. thaliana Lunapark proteins induces sheet-like structures. Changes to ER dynamics caused by over-expression of these proteins will be analysed using the aforementioned software and with single-particle tracking technology. The movement of the ER is controlled by the underlying actin cytoskeleton [10]. As such the dynamics and structure of the actin cytoskeleton will be analysed in modified ER and EPCS backgrounds compared to wild-types.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
Christopher Hawes (Primary Supervisor) |
Publications
Pain C
(2019)
Quantitative analysis of plant ER architecture and dynamics.
in Nature communications
Pain C
(2020)
Defining the dance: quantification and classification of endoplasmic reticulum dynamics.
in Journal of experimental botany
Kriechbaumer V
(2018)
Arabidopsis Lunapark proteins are involved in ER cisternae formation
Studentship Projects
Project Reference | Relationship | Related To | Start | End | Student Name |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
BB/M011224/1 | 30/09/2015 | 31/03/2024 | |||
1810146 | Studentship | BB/M011224/1 | 30/09/2015 | 29/09/2019 |
Description | Software developed for the analysis of a plant membrane bound cell structure termed the "endoplasmic reticulum". |
Exploitation Route | Software will be made publically available. |
Sectors | Agriculture Food and Drink Manufacturing including Industrial Biotechology |
Title | AnalyzER |
Description | We developed a software package (AnalyzER) to automatically extract ER tubules and cisternae from multi-dimensional fluorescence images of plant ER. Which characterises the structure, topology, protein-localisation patterns, and dynamics are automatically quantified using spatial, intensity and graph-theoretic metrics. |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Open Source License? | Yes |
Impact | None so far, it was released 2 weeks ago |
URL | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-08893-9#data-availability |