Department of Biological Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry CV47AL, UK.
Mol Plant. 2011 Jan;4(1):180-9. doi: 10.1093/mp/ssq051. Epub 2010 Sep 10.
We have mapped the expression of the tonoplast intrinsic protein (TIP) gene family members in Arabidopsis seeds by fluorescent protein tagging of their genomic sequences and confocal microscopy. Three isoforms (TIP1;1, TIP2;1, and TIP2;2) have distinct patterns of expression in maternal tissues (outer integument and placento-chalazal region). Two isoforms, TIP3;1 and the previously uncharacterized TIP3;2, are the only detectable TIPs in embryos during seed maturation and the early stages of seed germination. Throughout these developmental stages, both isoforms co-locate to the tonoplast of the protein storage vacuoles, but also appear to label the plasma membrane. Plasma membrane labeling is specific to TIP3;1 and TIP3;2, is independent of the position of the fluorescent protein tag, and appears to be specific to early seed maturation and early germination stages. We discuss these results in the context of the predicted distribution of aquaporins in Arabidopsis seeds.
我们通过对质膜内在蛋白(TIP)基因家族成员的基因组序列进行荧光蛋白标记和共焦显微镜观察,研究了它们在拟南芥种子中的表达情况。三个同工型(TIP1;1、TIP2;1 和 TIP2;2)在母体组织(外种皮和珠柄-合点区)中呈现出不同的表达模式。两个同工型,TIP3;1 和以前未被描述的 TIP3;2,是在种子成熟和种子萌发早期阶段胚胎中唯一可检测到的 TIP。在这些发育阶段,两种同工型都定位于蛋白质储存液泡的质膜上,但也似乎标记了质膜。质膜标记是 TIP3;1 和 TIP3;2 的特异性,与荧光蛋白标记的位置无关,似乎特异性地与早期种子成熟和早期萌发阶段相关。我们在拟南芥种子中预测的水通道蛋白分布的背景下讨论了这些结果。