The Plant Lytic Vacuole: Space-Filler, Garbage Bag, or Something More Interesting?

Abstract: A textbook view of plant vacuoles is that they serve two major functions.  First, they allow cells to attain a relatively large volume at minimal metabolic cost.  Second, they provide a waste compartment for multicellular organisms that have only a rudimentary circulation system.  However, I will argue that the “waste compartment” function of the vacuole is critical to more wide aspects of plant function, including nitrogen use efficiency.  Moreover, the storage capacity of plant vacuoles can potentially be exploited for the biofortification of food with essential minerals.  Finally, the ability of the vacuole to sequester calcium can play a prominent role in cellular signalling in response to insect attack.

Host: Frans Maathuis