Botany Department - Marisa S. Otegui

Marisa S. Otegui
Associate Professor of Botany
Ph.D. (1996) University of La Plata, Argentina

B119 Birge Hall
608-265-5703
otegui@wisc.edu

Cell biology; intracellular membrane traffic; cytokinesis; endosperm development

Otegui Lab

I am interested in structural and functional aspects of multivesicular bodies (MVBs) in plant cells. MVBs are endosomes that consist of a limiting membrane and internal vesicles. The internal vesicles arise from invaginations of the limiting membrane and carry membrane proteins targeted for degradation in the lysosome/vacuole. MVBs play a crucial role in both the endocytic and the secretory pathways of all eukaryotic cells, sorting proteins for degradation or recycling, downregulating receptors, and mediating the transport of proteins to the vacuole/lysosome. Thus, MVB functions are tightly related to cell signaling, differentiation, and transport of vacuolar cargoes.

The endosomal invagination process is unique because, unlike most vesiculation processes characterized to date, the vesiculating membrane buds away from the cytoplasm. This invagination process requires the concentration of membrane proteins into specific membrane domains and the initiation of budding into the MVB lumen. In yeast and mammalian cells, ubiquitination of receptors is now well established as a signal for sorting into internal vesicles of MVBs. In addition, multiprotein complexes called e ndosomal s orting c omplexes r equired for t ransport I, II, and III (ESCRT-I, -II, -III) are also required for protein sorting into MVB internal vesicles.

In plants, MVBs have been adapted to serve both the same functions as in yeast and mammalian cells as well as unique plant functions. In particular, plant MVBs appear to play a central role in the transport and processing of vacuolar storage proteins and recycling of membrane removed from the cell plate during cytokinesis. We are addressing questions such as: How many classes of endosomal compartments exist in plants? How do MVBs arise? What steps in proteolytic protein processing take place in MVBs? What are their functions in different cell types? What is the molecular machinery responsible for MVB sorting and invagination? Are receptors targeted to MVB ubiquitinated?

Research areas:

1- Identification of different types of MVBs and their cargoes in plant cells and the analysis of their specific function during cytokinesis.

2- Analysis of the specific roles of MVBs in storage protein transport in seeds.

3- Analysis of the molecular basis of MVB functions in plants and identification of orthologues of ESCRT subunits in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Approach

We use a variety of multidisciplinary techniques, including cryofixation/freeze substitution, electron and confocal microscopy, dual-axis electron tomography, immunolabeling, subcellular fractionation, RT-PCR, and expression of GFP fusion proteins and heterologous proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana .

Selected Publications

2010

Reyes, F.C., Otegui, M.S. Endosomes in plants. 2010. Nature Education (in press).

Reyes, F.C., Sun, B., Guo, H., Gruis, F., Otegui, M.S. 2010. Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation of maize endosperm as a tool to study endosperm cell biology. Plant Physiology 153: 624-631.

Haruta, M., Burch, H.L., Nelson, R.B., Barrett-Wilt G., Kline, K.G., Mohsin, S.B., Young, J.C., Otegui, M.S., Sussman, M. 2010. Molecular characterization of mutant Arabidopsis plants with reduced plasma membrane proton pump activity. Journal of Biological Chemistry 285:17918-29.

2009

Spitzer, C., Reyes, F.C., Buono, R., Sliwinski, M.K., Haas, T.J., Otegui, M.S. 2009. The ESCRT-related CHMP1A and B proteins mediate multivesicular body sorting of auxin carriers and are required for plant development. The Plant Cell 21: 749-766.

Stanga, J., Boonsirichai, K., Sedbrook, J., Otegui, M. Masson, P. 2009. A Role for the TOC Complex in Arabidopsis Root Gravitropism. Plant Physiology 149:1896-905.

Peer, W.A., Hosein, F.N., Bandyopadhyay, A., Makam, S.N., Otegui, M.S., Lee, G.J., Blakeslee, J.J., Cheng, Y., Titapiwatanakun, B., Yakubov, B., Bangari, B., Murphy, A.S. 2009. Mutation of the membrane-associated M1 protease APM1 results in distinct embryonic and seedling developmental defects in Arabidopsis. The Plant Cell: 21:1693-721.

2008

Ebine, K. Okatani, Y., Uemura, T., Goh, T., Shoda, K., Niihama, M., Terao Morita, M., Spitzer, C., Otegui, M.S., Nakano, A. and Ueda, T. 2008. A SNARE complex unique to seed plants is required for vacuole biogenesis and seed development of Arabidopsis thaliana. The Plant Cell 20: 3006-21

Martínez, D.E., Costa, M.L., Otegui, M.S., Guiamet, J.J. 2008. Senescence-associated vacuoles of tobacco leaves are involved in the degradation of chloroplast proteins. The Plant Journal 56: 196-206.

Otegui, M.S., Spitzer, C. 2008. Plant endosomal functions. Traffic 9:1589-98.

2007

Tian, Q., Olsen, L., Sun, B., Lid, S.E., Brown, R., Lemmon, B.E., Fosnes, K., Gruis, F., Opsahl-Sorteberg, H.-G., Otegui, M.S. and Olsen, O.-A. 2007. Subcellular localization and functional domain studies of DEFECTIVE KERNEL 1 in maize and Arabidopsis thaliana suggest a model for aleurone cell fate specification involving CRINKLY 4 and SUPERNUMERARY ALEURONE LAYER 1. The Plant Cell 19: 3127-3145.

Holding, D.R., Otegui, M.S., Li, B., Meeley, R., Dam, T., Hunter, B.G., Jung, R., Larkins, B.A. 2007. The maize Floury1 gene encodes a novel ER protein involved in zein protein-body formation. The Plant Cell 19: 2569-2582.

Kobayashi, K, Otegui, M.S., Krishnakumar, S., Mindrinos, M., Zambryski, P. 2007. INCREASED SIZE EXCLUSION LIMIT 2 encodes a DEVH box RNA helicase that regulates plasmodesmata during Arabidopsis embryogenesis. The Plant Cell 19: 1885-1897.

Haas, T.J., Sliwinski, M.K., Martínez, D.E., Preuss, M., Ebine, K., Ueda, T., Nielsen, E., Odorizzi, G., and Otegui, M.S. 2007. The Arabidopsis AAA ATPase SKD1 is involved in multivesicular endosome function and interacts with its positive regulator LIP5. The Plant Cell 19:1295-312.

Otegui, M.S., Austin, J.R. II. 2007. Visualization of membrane-cytoskeletal interactions during plant cytokinesis. Methods in Cell Biology 79:221-40.

Otegui, M.S. 2007. Endosperm cell walls: formation, composition, and functions. In: Olsen, O.A. Endosperm: development and molecular biology. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany.

2006

Otegui, M.S., Herder, R., Schulze, J., Jung, R., Staehelin, L.A. 2006. A population of prevacuolar compartments acts as proteolytic processing stations for seed storage proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana. The Plant Cell 18: 2567-2581.

Chaiwongsar, S., Otegui, M.S., Jester, P.J., Monson, S.S., Krysan, P.J. 2006. The protein kinase genes MAP3Ke1 and MAP3Ke2 are required for pollen viability in Arabidopsis thaliana. The Plant Journal 48:193-205.

Petruccelli, S., Otegui, M.S., Lareu, F., Trandinhthanhlien, O., Fitchette, A.-C., Circosta, A., Rumbo, M., Bardor, M., Carcamo, R., Gomord, V., Beachy, R. 2006. A KDEL tagged monoclonal antibody is efficiently retained in the reticulum endoplasmic in leaves but is both partially secreted and sorted to protein storage vacuoles in seeds. Plant Biotechnology Journal 4: 511-527.

Preuss, M.L., Schmitz, A.J., Thole, J.M. Bonner, H.K.S., Otegui, M.S., Nielsen, E. 2006. A role for the RabA4b effector protein, PI-4Kbeta1, in polarized expansion of root hair cells in Arabidopsis. Journal Cell Biology 172:991-8.