Plant Golgi and GECCO: The Universality of ER-Golgi Interface

In spite of its highly conserved molecular constituents, the Golgi apparatus shows diverse morphologies depending on the organism and cell type. In particular, in plant cells, the distribution and dynamics of the Golgi differ considerably from that seen in their mammalian or yeast counterparts. The architecture of the ER-Golgi interface, the first transfer station of the whole secretory traffic, has also been thought to differ between plants and the better-known mammalian system that possesses the ER-Golgi intermediate compartment (ERGIC). However, detailed observations with plant cells gave rise to the identification of GECCO, the ER-Golgi intermediate that is likely to correspond to the mammalian ERGIC. The existence of compartments that are seemingly different, but still share common features across multiple eukaryotic kingdoms, highlights the universality of the ER-Golgi interface. In this chapter, after summarizing the characteristics of the plant Golgi, we will introduce the findings about GECCO by comparing plants with mammals and yeast. In addition, we will discuss the universal identity of the ER-Golgi intermediate compartments in order to transcend the morphological diversity for a deeper understanding of the ER-Golgi interface.