Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 6, 2025

Analysis of Endocytic Uptake and Retrograde Transport to the Trans-Golgi Network Using Functionalized Nanobodies in Cultured Cells
Published on: February 21, 2019
Retrograde transport in plants: Circular economy in the endomembrane system
Jan Zouhar1, Wenhan Cao2, Jinbo Shen2
1Central European Institute of Technology, Mendel University in Brno, CZ-61300 Brno, Czech Republic.
Abstract:
The study of endomembrane trafficking is crucial for understanding how cells and whole organisms function. Moreover, there is a special interest in investigating endomembrane trafficking in plants, given its role in transport and accumulation of seed storage proteins and in secretion of cell wall material, arguably the two most essential commodities obtained from crops. The mechanisms of anterograde transport in the biosynthetic and endocytic pathways of plants have been thoroughly discussed in recent reviews, but, comparatively, retrograde trafficking pathways have received less attention. Retrograde trafficking is essential to recover membranes, retrieve proteins that have escaped from their intended localization, maintain homeostasis in maturing compartments, and recycle trafficking machinery for its reuse in anterograde transport reactions. Here, we review the current understanding on retrograde trafficking pathways in the endomembrane system of plants, discussing their integration with anterograde transport routes, describing conserved and plant-specific retrieval mechanisms at play, highlighting contentious issues and identifying open questions for future research.
Related Concept Videos
Short-distance Transport of Resources
Recycling Endosomes and Transcytosis
The recycling endosome is not a single organelle but an extensively tubulated network of recycling pathways. It functions in storing molecules or transporting them across...
Protein Transport to the Inner Chloroplast Membrane
The Apoplast and Symplast
Transport Across the Golgi
Overview of Protein Sorting and Transport
Protein sorting can be of two types: signal-based sorting and vesicle-based trafficking. In signal-based sorting, specific amino acid sequences called sorting signals target proteins to the proper location inside the cell either via gated transport or by protein translocation. In gated transport, folded...

