Anthocyanic vacuolar inclusions

Are Anthocyanic Vacuolar Inclusions (AVIs) Required to Color Plant Tissues Black ... 

Markham KR, Gould KS, Winefield CS et al (2000) Anthocyanic vacuolar inclusions - their nature and significance in flower colouration. Phytochem 55 327-336... 

Pourcel L, Irani NG, Lu Y et al (2010) The formation of anthocyanic vacuolar inclusions in arabidopsis thaliana and implications for the sequestration of anthocyanin pigments. Molec Plant 3(l) 78-90... 

Zhang H, Wang L, Deroles S et al (2006) New insight into the structures and formation of anthocyanic vacuolar inclusions in flower petals. BMC Plant Biol 6 29... 

There is also a preliminary report of a P. frutescens cDNA encoding a membrane protein of unknown function (8R6) that promotes anthocyanin uptake into protoplasts and anthocyanin accumulation when overexpressed in A. thaliana transgenics.Within the vacuole of some plants (but not A. thaliana) the anthocyanins may occur in protein containing bodies, termed anthocyanic vacuolar inclusions (AVIs), whose function is as yet unknown but may relate to transport activities. ... 

Nozue, M. et al., VP24 found in anthocyanic vacuolar inclusions (AVIs) of sweet potato cells is a member of a metalloprotease family. Biochem. Eng. J., 14, 199, 2003. 

Conn, S., Zhang, W., and Franco, C., Anthocyanic vacuolar inclusions (AVIs) selectively bind acylated anthocyanins in Vitis vinifera L. (grapevine) suspension culture, Biotechnol. Lett., 25, 835, 2003. 

Returning once again to the questions of function and uses, the old concept of flavonoids being merely the by-products of cellular metabolism, which are simply compartmentalized in solution in the cell vacuole, is well and truly past its use-by date. For a start, studies have revealed that flavonoids are also commonly found on the outer surfaces of leaves and flowers, albeit only the aglycone form. Additionally, flavonoids have been shown over the past few years to be found in the cell wall, the cytoplasm, in oil bodies, and associated with the nucleus and cell proteins, as well as in the vacuole. Even in the vacuole, flavonoids are not necessarily found free in solution. For example, protein-bound flavonoids have been isolated from lisianthus and other flowers in which a structurally specific binding has been identified (in anthocyanic vacuolar inclusions). It is probable that flavonoid location and specific protein binding properties will ultimately prove to relate directly to their function in plants. 

---