Plant cell organelles vacuoles

Wagner, G.J. (1983). Higher plant vacuoles and tonoplasts. In Isolation of Membrane and Organelles from Plant Cells, ed. J.L. Hall and A.L. Moore, pp. 83-118. London Academic Press. 

In yeasts and other fungi, the vacuole is an important organelle sharing some properties with the mammalian lysosome (an acidic compartment containing a variety of hydrolytic enzymes) and with the plant cell vacuole (responsible for metabolite storage and for cytosolic ion and pH homeostasis) [18,19]. 

In spite of the variety of appearances of eukaryotic cells, their intracellular structures are essentially the same. Because of their extensive internal membrane structure, however, the problem of precise protein sorting for eukaryotic cells becomes much more difficult than that for bacteria. Figure 4 schematically illustrates this situation. There are various membrane-bound compartments within the cell. Such compartments are called organelles. Besides the plasma membrane, a typical animal cell has the nucleus, the mitochondrion (which has two membranes see Fig. 6), the peroxisome, the ER, the Golgi apparatus, the lysosome, and the endosome, among others. As for the Golgi apparatus, there are more precise distinctions between the cis, medial, and trans cisternae, and the TGN trans Golgi network) (see Fig. 8). In typical plant cells, the chloroplast (which has three membranes see Fig. 7) and the cell wall are added, and the lysosome is replaced with the vacuole. 

At an appropriate intensity level of ultrasound, intracellular microstreaming has been observed inside animal and plant cells with rotation of organelles and eddying motions in vacuoles of plant cells [9]. These effects can produce an increase in the metabolic functions of the cell that could be of use in both biotechnology and microbiology, especially in the areas of biodegradation and fermentation. 

Topical eukaryotic cells (Fig. 1-7) are much larger than prokaryotic cells—commonly 5 to 100 pm in diameter, with cell volumes a thousand to a million times larger than those of bacteria. The distinguishing characteristics of eukaryotes are the nucleus and a variety of membrane-bounded organelles with specific functions mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi complexes, and lysosomes. Plant cells also contain vacuoles and chloroplasts (Fig. 1-7). Also present in the cytoplasm of many cells are granules or droplets containing stored nutrients such as starch and fat. 

A eukaryotic cell is surrounded by a plasma membrane, has a membrane-bound nucleus and contains a number of other distinct subcellular organelles (Fig. 1). These organelles are membrane-bounded structures, each having a unique role and each containing a specific complement of proteins and other molecules. Animal and plant cells have the same basic structure, although some organelles and structures are found in one and not the other (e.g. chloroplasts, vacuoles and cell wall in plant cells, lysosomes in animal cells). 

The bulk constituent of cells is water (H20). The cell membrane or plasma membrane (PM) that encloses the living cell is basically composed of a phospholipid bilayer, a 0.01 micrometre ( xm) (10 nm) thick bimolecular layer of hydrophobic (or water repelling) fatty molecules. In eukaryotes (organisms having a nucleus) there is a phospholipid bilayer PM enclosing the cell. Similar membranes bound specialized intracellular organelles, namely the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), ER-associated Golgi vesicles, lysosomes, vacuoles, peroxisomes, nucleus and mitochondria (and, additionally, the chloroplasts in plant cells). 

The plasma membrane is a major barrier to the diffusion of solutes into and out of plant cells, the organelle membranes play an analogous role for the various subcellular compartments, and the tonoplast performs this function for the central vacuole. For instance, although H20 and C02 readily penetrate the plasma membrane, ATP and metabolic intermediates usually do not diffuse across it easily. Before we mathematically describe the penetration of membranes by solutes, we will briefly review certain features of the structure of membranes. 

The relatively simple measurement of the volumes of pea chloroplasts for various external osmotic pressures can yield a considerable amount of information about the organelles. If we measure the volume of the isolated chloroplasts at the same osmotic pressure as in the cytosol, we can determine the chloroplast volume that occurs in the plant cell. Cell sap expressed from young pea leaves can have an osmotic pressure of 0.70 MPa such sap comes mainly from the central vacuole, but because we expect n05 10801 to be essentially equal to nvacuole (Eq. 2.14), nce11 8ap is about the same as n05 10801 (some uncertainty exists because during extraction the cell sap can come into contact with water in the cell walls). At an external osmotic pressure of 0.70 MPa (indicated by an arrow and dashed vertical line in Fig. 2-11), pea chloroplasts have a volume of 29 pm3 when isolated from illuminated plants and 35 pm3 when isolated from plants in the dark (Fig. 2-11). Because these volumes occur at approximately the same osmotic pressure as found in the cell, they are presumably reliable estimates of pea chloroplast volumes in vivo. 

Fairbaim and Williamson studied P. bracteatum anatomically and compared it to P. somniferum (18). They found the two plants to be very similar in stmcture. The laticifers of P. bracteatum were usually more closely packed and anastomose more frequently. The subcellular fraction of protoplasts from cultured P. bracteatum cells (organelles sedimenting at 1000 g) was the major site where thebaine and sanguinarine accumulated (19). It also contained dopamine as a precursor and the vacuolar enzyme a-mannosidase. Dopamine also appeared in the supernatant. Dopamine compartmentalization in vacuoles of cultured cells was observed by histofluorescence microscopy. Dopamine, sanguinarine, and thebaine occurred in vacuoles of different densities. This result is consistent with... 

Plants use the proton electrochemical gradient across the vacuole membrane to power the accumulation of salts and sugars In the organelle. This creates a hypertonic situation. Why does this not result in the plant cell bursting How does... 

Although all eukaryotic cells have much in common, the ultrastructure of a plant cell differs firom that of the typical mammalian cell in three major ways. First, all living plant cells contain plastids. Second, the plasma membrane of plant cells is shielded by the cellulosic cell wall, preventing lysis in the naturally hypotonic environment but making preparation of cell fractions more difficult. Finally, the nucleus, cytosol, and organelles are pressed against the cell wall by the tonoplast, the membrane of the large, central vacuole that can occupy 80% or more of the cell s volume. 

The localization of enzymes of the oxylipin pathway has yet to be unequivocally elucidated. Nonetheless, LOX has been localized in plastids, vacuoles and the cytoplasm, e.g. [1], and in lipid bodies [36,37]. Since enzymes of the jasmonic acid biosynthetic pathway are thought to be localized mainly in plastids, mechanisms must exist to shuttle fatty acids released from the plasma membrane to the plastids. Furthermore, since p-oxidation of fatty acids normally occurs in peroxisomes, transport vesicles that carry the cargo between organelles may exist in plant cells. It is tempting to speculate that there could be fusion or mixing of compartments that contain either enzymes, fatty acids, and/or intermediate products, thus resulting in oxylipin biosynthesis. Intensive research is needed to address these questions as well as the cell-specific and the subcellular localization of oxylipin synthesis and the mechanisms that regulate this process. 

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