Articulo
Senescence-associated vacuoles, a specific lytic compartment for degradation of chloroplast proteins?
Autor
Carrión, Cristian Antonio
Martínez, Dana Ethel
Costa, María Lorenza
Guiamet, Juan José
Institución
Resumen
Degradation of chloroplasts and chloroplast components is a distinctive feature of leaf senescence. In spite of its importance in the nutrient economy of plants, knowledge about the mechanism(s) involved in the breakdown of chloroplast proteins is incomplete. A novel class of vacuoles, "senescence-associated vacuoles" (SAVs), characterized by intense proteolytic activity appear during senescence in chloroplast-containing cells of leaves. Since SAVs contain some chloroplast proteins, they are candidate organelles to participate in chloroplast breakdown. In this review we discuss the characteristics of SAVs, and their possible involvement in the degradation of Rubisco, the most abundant chloroplast protein. Finally, SAVs are compared with other extra-plastidial protein degradation pathways operating in senescing leaves. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales Instituto de Fisiología Vegetal