Institute of Plant Biology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Annu Rev Plant Biol. 2012;63:183-213. doi: 10.1146/annurev-arplant-042811-105608. Epub 2012 Feb 9.
Vacuoles in vegetative tissues allow the plant surface to expand by accumulating energetically cheap inorganic osmolytes, and thereby optimize the plant for absorption of sunlight and production of energy by photosynthesis. Some specialized cells, such as guard cells and pulvini motor cells, exhibit rapid volume changes. These changes require the rapid release and uptake of ions and water by the vacuole and are a prerequisite for plant survival. Furthermore, seed vacuoles are important storage units for the nutrients required for early plant development. All of these fundamental processes rely on numerous vacuolar transporters. During the past 15 years, the transporters implicated in most aspects of vacuolar function have been identified and characterized. Vacuolar transporters appear to be integrated into a regulatory network that controls plant metabolism. However, little is known about the mode of action of these fundamental processes, and deciphering the underlying mechanisms remains a challenge for the future.
植物组织中的液泡可通过积累能量廉价的无机渗透物来使植物表面扩张，从而优化植物吸收阳光和光合作用产生能量的能力。一些特化细胞，如保卫细胞和叶褥运动细胞，表现出快速的体积变化。这些变化需要液泡快速释放和吸收离子和水，是植物生存的前提条件。此外，种子液泡是植物早期发育所需营养物质的重要储存单位。所有这些基本过程都依赖于众多液泡转运蛋白。在过去的 15 年中，与液泡功能的大多数方面相关的转运蛋白已被鉴定和描述。液泡转运蛋白似乎整合到一个调节网络中，该网络控制着植物的新陈代谢。然而，人们对这些基本过程的作用模式知之甚少，破译其潜在机制仍然是未来的一个挑战。
