Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 5, 2025

12:18
A Strategy to Validate the Role of Callose-mediated Plasmodesmal Gating in the Tropic Response
Published on: April 17, 2016
10.3K
Structure and Function of Auxin Transporters
Ulrich Z Hammes1, Bjørn Panyella Pedersen2
1School of Life Sciences, Plant Systems Biology, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany;
Annual Review of Plant Biology
|January 11, 2024
Summary
This review details plant hormone auxin transporters, focusing on the PIN-FORMED family. Understanding these transporters is key for plant growth, crop production, and biotechnology.
Area of Science:
- Plant Biology
- Molecular Biology
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Auxins are critical plant hormones regulating growth and development.
- Auxin transport relies on diverse transporters with unique properties.
- Understanding auxin transport mechanisms is vital for plant science.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review current knowledge on auxin transporters, including their biochemical and biophysical properties.
- To highlight recent advances in understanding the PIN-FORMED (PIN) family of auxin exporters.
- To discuss the application of biophysical methods in studying PIN-mediated auxin transport.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of known auxin transporters.
- Analysis of biochemical and biophysical properties of transporters.
- Focus on structural insights and biophysical techniques for PIN proteins.
Main Results:
- Comprehensive summary of auxin transporter characteristics.
- Detailed examination of the PIN-FORMED family's structure and function.
- Integration of structural and biophysical data to explain auxin export.
Conclusions:
- Knowledge of auxin transporter structures enhances understanding of auxin export.
- Biophysical methods provide crucial insights into PIN-mediated transport.
- Understanding auxin transport is fundamental for crop improvement and biotechnology.
Related Concept Videos
Short-distance Transport of Resources
16.0K
Short-distance transport refers to transport that occurs over a distance of just 2-3 cells, crossing the plasma membrane in the process. Small uncharged molecules, such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water, can diffuse across the plasma membrane on their own. In contrast, ions and larger molecules require the assistance of transport proteins due to their charge or size. Transport across membranes also occurs within individual cells, playing a variety of essential roles for the plant as a whole.
16.0K
Protein Transport to the Inner Chloroplast Membrane
2.1K
Proteins targeted to the inner chloroplast membrane, or plastid proteins, are transported by two general pathways: the stop-transfer and the re-insertion or post-import pathways. Most plastid proteins carry N-terminal transit sequences and internal import sequences targeting it to the specific chloroplast subcompartment. Proteins targeted by the stop-transfer pathway have internal hydrophobic sequences that inhibit their translocation into the stroma. As a result, these precursors are arrested...
2.1K
ABC Transporters: Exporter
4.3K
ATP-binding cassette or ABC transporter is the largest superfamily of integral membrane proteins. The transporters have transmembrane-binding domains (TMDs) and nucleotide-binding domains (NBDs). The TMDs are specific to their substrates, whereas the NBDs are similar to engines that complete ATP hydrolysis to complete the substrate transport. They can be full transporters consisting of two TMDs and NBDs, half transporters with one TMD and NBD, while some encoded with a single TMD or NBD are...
4.3K
Facilitated Diffusion
476
The plasma membrane, a critical structure in cellular biology, houses an array of transporters, or carrier proteins, interspersed within its lipid bilayer. These proteins play a crucial role in solute transport through facilitated diffusion, a form of passive diffusion that uses transporters to move the molecules across the membrane.
In this process, substrates such as organic compounds and ions interact with a transporter on one side, triggering conformational changes in proteins that enable...
In this process, substrates such as organic compounds and ions interact with a transporter on one side, triggering conformational changes in proteins that enable...
476
Protein Transport to the Thylakoids
2.3K
Thylakoids are membrane-bound sac-like structures within the chloroplast that serve as sites for photosynthesis. Thylakoid lumen contains many electron transport proteins and is enclosed by a thylakoid membrane rich in the light-harvesting complex. Proteins targeted to the thylakoids are transported as precursors and are sorted by the general TOC/TIC import pathway. Once the precursor reaches the stroma, stromal processing peptidases remove their transit signal and expose thylakoid signal...
2.3K
Membrane Transporters
11.1K
Transporters are essential membrane transport proteins with functions related to cell nutrition, homeostasis, communication, etc. Approximately 7% of all genes in the human genome code for transporters or transporter-related proteins.
Transporters are mainly composed of alpha-helices, built from bundles of ten or more helices traversing the plasma membrane. The solute-binding sites are located midway, where some of the helices are broken or distorted, making space for the binding site through...
Transporters are mainly composed of alpha-helices, built from bundles of ten or more helices traversing the plasma membrane. The solute-binding sites are located midway, where some of the helices are broken or distorted, making space for the binding site through...
11.1K

