Heteromeric complexes of p24 proteins cycle between early compartments of the secretory pathway and are required for efficient protein sorting. Here we investigated the role of cytoplasmically exposed tail sequences on two p24 proteins, Emp24p and Erv25p, in directing their movement and subcellular location in yeast. Studies on a series of deletion and chimeric Emp24p-Erv25p proteins indicated that the tail sequences impart distinct functional properties that were partially redundant but not entirely interchangeable. Export of an Emp24p-Erv25p complex from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) did not depend on two other associated p24 proteins, Erp1 and Erp2p. To examine interactions between the Emp24p and Erv25p tail sequences with the COPI and COPII coat proteins, binding experiments with immobilized tail peptides and coat proteins were performed. The Emp24p and Erv25p tail sequences bound the Sec13p/Sec31p subunit of the COPII coat (K d ϳ100 M), and binding depended on a pair of aromatic residues found in both tail sequences. COPI subunits also bound to these Emp24p and Erv25p peptides; however, the Erv25p tail sequence, which contains a dilysine motif, bound COPI more efficiently. These results suggest that both the Emp24p and Erv25p cytoplasmic sequences contain a di-aromatic motif that binds subunits of the COPII coat and promotes export from the ER. The Erv25p tail sequence binds COPI and is responsible for returning this complex to the ER.The secretory pathway in eukaryotic cells consists of a series of membrane-bound compartments that modify, sort and transport secretory cargo. Transport through this pathway depends on coat protein complexes that form vesicles and select specific cargo molecules for incorporation into vesicles. Current models suggest that transport between organelles is bi-directional, such that organellar constituents are recycled as secretory cargo advances. With regard to transport through the early secretory pathway, coat protein complex II (COPII) 1 catalyzes anterograde transport between the ER and Golgi whereas coat protein complex I (COPI) acts in retrograde traffic between these compartments (1). In addition to coat-dependent export of secretory cargo from the ER, retrieval (2) and retention (3) mechanisms operate to maintain overall compartmental organization.A related group of integral membrane proteins, referred to as the p24 family, are thought to act in concert with COPI and COPII to sort proteins during transport through the early secretory pathway. Initially identified on ER membranes (4) and subsequently detected as abundant proteins on COPI-and COPII-coated vesicles (5, 6), the function of p24 proteins in sorting remains unclear. In yeast strains lacking certain p24 members, some secretory proteins accumulate in the ER (e.g. invertase and the GPI-anchored protein Gas1p), while ER resident proteins that contain an HDEL retrieval motif are secreted and the unfolded protein response pathway is activated (6 -9). Based on these and other findings, the p24 proteins have been propo...