SignificancePlant vacuoles play unique roles such as storage and coloring, in addition to lysosomal/vacuolar functions shared by eukaryotes: degradation and recycling of waste. To fulfill these complex and specialized functions, plant vacuolar trafficking occurs through multiple, uniquely regulated transport pathways. Two evolutionarily conserved tethering complexes, homotypic fusion and protein sorting (HOPS) and class C core vacuole/endosome tethering (CORVET), are involved in lysosomal/vacuolar trafficking in nonplant systems, although they also exist in plants. However, it remains almost entirely unknown how these tethering complexes regulate the unique aspects of plant vacuolar transport. Here, we show that HOPS and CORVET mediate distinct vacuolar trafficking pathways in coordination with different sets of soluble N-ethylmaleimide–sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) proteins and RAB GTPase. Our findings provide further evidence for the unique evolutionary diversification of the vacuolar transport system in plants.
Highlights d Physcomitrella patens provides an early evolutionary snapshot of 11 KAI2-like proteins d A loop segment determines substrate specificity in Physcomitrella KAI2-like proteins d Distinct groups of proteins perceive (À)-5-deoxystrigol and the karrikin KAR 1 d Physcomitrella KAI2-like proteins cannot complement Arabidopsis kai2 or d14 mutants
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