Structural Insights into Cell Wall-Related Vesicle Secretion with Different Mechanisms

TL;DR

This study explores how cells with rigid walls, like plants and fungi, secrete vesicles despite the barrier posed by the cell wall.

Contribution

The paper reveals distinct vesicle secretion mechanisms in walled organisms using advanced imaging techniques.

Findings

Secretory vesicles do not fuse with the plasma membrane in cell wall-related exocytosis in A. thaliana and S. cerevisiae.

Vesicles inside MVB-like structures in the cell wall of A. thaliana floral nectary were identified.

The study shows how vesicles traverse the cell wall to deliver cargo in walled eukaryotic cells.

Abstract

Exocytosis is a fundamental biological process in all eukaryotes involving the vesicular transport of cellular cargo to the plasma membrane or extracellular space. However, in walled organisms such as plants, fungi, and certain archaea, the rigid cell wall presents a unique barrier to vesicular secretion. The dense, structured matrix of the mature cell wall restricts the passage of macromolecules and vesicles, raising the fundamental question of how vesicle secretion operates in this constrained environment. In the present study, we integrate transmission electron microscopy (TEM), cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET), and serial section electron tomography (SS-ET) to investigate the structural mechanisms underlying cell wall-related exocytosis. We demonstrate that secretory vesicles do not undergo fusion with the plasma membrane in cell wall-related vesicle secretion in Arabidopsis thaliana (A. thaliana) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae). Furthermore, in the floral nectary of A. thaliana, we identify the details of vesicles inside the multivesicular body (MVB)-like structure in cell wall. Collectively, these results reveal distinct vesicle secretion pathways adapted to the presence of a cell wall, expanding our understanding of how secretory vesicles traverse and deliver cargo beyond the plasma membrane in walled eukaryotic cells.

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