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Plant and Cell Physiology Advance Access published online on January 19, 2005
Plant and Cell Physiology, doi:10.1093/pcp/pci014
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Plant and Cell Physiology 2005 © The Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists (JSPP); all rights researved.
Received March 29, 2004
Accepted November 4, 2004

Regular Paper

Inhibition of Contractile Vacuole Function by Brefeldin A

Burkhard Becker 1* and Angela Hickisch 1

1 Botanisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, Germany

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Burkhard Becker, E-mail: b.becker{at}uni-koeln.de


  Abstract

Brefeldin A causes a block in the secretory system of eukaryotic cells. In the scaly green flagellate Scherffelia dubia brefeldin A also interfered with the function of the contractile vacuoles. The contractile vacuole (CV) is an osmoregulatory organelle which periodically expels fluid from the cell in many freshwater protists. Fusion of the contractile vacuole membrane with the plasma membrane is apparently blocked by brefeldin A in Scherffelia dubia. The two contractile vacuoles of Scherffelia dubia swell and finally form large central vacuoles (LCVs). Brefeldin A-induced formation of LCVs depends on V-ATPase activity, and can be reversed by hypertonic media suggesting that water accumulation into the large central vacuoles is driven by osmosis. We suggest that the BFA-induced formation of large central vacuoles represents a prolonged diastole phase. A normal diastole phase takes about 20 s and is difficult to investigate. Therefore, BFA-induced formation of LCVs in S. dubia represents a unique model system to investigate the diastole phase of the CV cycle.

Keywords: Brefeldin A; Concanamycin A; contractile vacuole; Golgi; osmoregulation; Scherffelia dubia; V-ATPase.
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