ADP-ribosylation factors (Arf), a family of small GTP-binding proteins, play important roles in intracellular trafficking in animal and yeast cells. Here, we investigated the roles of two Arf homologs, Arf1 and Arf3 of Arabidopsis, in intracellular trafficking in plant cells. We generated dominant negative mutant forms of Arf 1 and Arf3 and examined their effect on trafficking of reporter proteins in protoplasts. Arf1[T31N] inhibited trafficking of H ϩ -ATPase:green fluorescent protein (GFP) and sialyltransferase (ST):GFP to the plasma membrane and the Golgi apparatus. In addition, Arf1[T31N] caused relocalization of the Golgi reporter protein ST:GFP to the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). In protoplasts expressing Arf1[T31N], ST:red fluorescent protein remained in the ER, whereas H ϩ -ATPase:GFP was mistargeted to another organelle. Also, expression of Arf1[T31N] in protoplasts resulted in profound changes in the morphology of the ER. The treatment of protoplasts with brefeldin A had exactly the same effect as Arf1[T31N] on various intracellular trafficking pathways. In contrast, Arf3[T31N] did not affect trafficking of any of these reporter proteins. Inhibition experiments using mutants with various domains swapped between Arf1 and Arf3 revealed that the N-terminal domain is interchangeable for trafficking inhibition. However, in addition to the T31N mutation, motifs in domains II, III, and IV of Arf1 were necessary for inhibition of trafficking of H ϩ -ATPase:GFP. Together, these results strongly suggest that Arf1 plays a role in the intracellular trafficking of cargo proteins in Arabidopsis, and that Arf1 functions through a brefeldin A-sensitive factor.In eukaryotic cells, a large number of proteins are transported to their final destination after translation by a process called intracellular trafficking. The mechanism of intracellular trafficking has been extensively studied in animal, plant, and yeast cells. Based on numerous studies, the general mechanism of intracellular trafficking is thought to be similar in various organisms (Rothman, 1994; Jahn and Sü dhof, 1999; Bassham and Raikhel, 2000), implying that the fundamental aspects of intracellular trafficking between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), Golgi apparatus, vacuole, and plasma membrane are similar in plant cells as well. In fact, many plant proteins have been shown to complement mutations in corresponding proteins in yeast cells (Bassham et al., 1995; Takeuchi et al., 1998). Also, proteins such as clathrin, coatomer subunits of coat protein I (COPI) vesicles, and many small GTP-binding proteins have been identified in plant cells (Memon et al., 1993; Regad et al., 1993; Lebas and Axelos, 1994; Blackbourn and Jackson, 1996; Contreras et al., 2000), although in most cases, the exact biological roles of these proteins have not been directly addressed. However, differences in trafficking also exist between plant and animal cells. It has recently been shown that plant cells have at least two different types of vacuoles: the lytic and storage vacuoles...