Chinese Bulletin of Botany ›› 2010, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (04): 479-491.DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-3466.2010.04.012

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Role of Arabidopsis SNARE Proteins in Vesicle Trafficking

Hongmin Jin; Lixin Li*   

  1. Key Laboratory of Saline-alkali Vegetation Ecology Restoration in Oil Field (SAVER), Ministry of Education, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin 150040, China
  • Received:2009-08-03 Online:2010-04-30 Published:2010-09-26
  • Contact: Lixin Li

Abstract: Higher plant cells contain a complicated endomembrane system to complete material communication through its characteristic vesicle trafficking mechanism. Vesicle trafficking includes four steps: budding, transport, tethering, and fusion. These four steps are regulated by many factors, such as Coat, SM, Tether, SNARE, and Rab proteins. SNARE proteins play an essential role in fusion. SNARE proteins are small transmembrane proteins and can be grouped into vesicle SNAREs (v-SNAREs), which are localized on transport vesicles, and target SNAREs (t-SNAREs), which are localized on the target membrane. t- and v-SNAREs form a complex to facilitate membrane fusion. SNARE proteins play an essential role in plant growth and development and response to environments. Here, we summarize the research advances into the intracellular distribution and function of SNAREs in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.