Search

Significance Endocytosis transports cargos inside the cell by creating spherical vesicles from the plasma membrane. This membrane remodeling requires proteins to generate force to bend the membrane inwards, overcoming the high-turgor pressure in plant cells. However, as plants create clathrin-coated vesicles without actin, the machinery to bend membranes during endocytosis is entirely unknown and appears distinct from other model systems. Here, we refine the physiological role of the plant-specific and essential endocytic TPLATE complex. We find it localizes outside of clathrin-coated vesicles and mediates membrane bending, contrasting with previous predictions. We further demonstrate that the TPLATE complex contains protein domains which have intrinsic membrane-bending activity; thus, we identify a component of the unique endocytosis membrane-bending machinery in plants., Clathrin-mediated endocytosis is the major route of entry of cargos into cells and thus underpins many physiological processes. During endocytosis, an area of flat membrane is remodeled by proteins to create a spherical vesicle against intracellular forces. The protein machinery which mediates this membrane bending in plants is unknown. However, it is known that plant endocytosis is actin independent, thus indicating that plants utilize a unique mechanism to mediate membrane bending against high-turgor pressure compared to other model systems. Here, we investigate the TPLATE complex, a plant-specific endocytosis protein complex. It has been thought to function as a classical adaptor functioning underneath the clathrin coat. However, by using biochemical and advanced live microscopy approaches, we found that TPLATE is peripherally associated with clathrin-coated vesicles and localizes at the rim of endocytosis events. As this localization is more fitting to the protein machinery involved in membrane bending during endocytosis, we examined cells in which the TPLATE complex was disrupted and found that the clathrin structures present as flat patches. This suggests a requirement of the TPLATE complex for membrane bending during plant clathrin–mediated endocytosis. Next, we used in vitro biophysical assays to confirm that the TPLATE complex possesses protein domains with intrinsic membrane remodeling activity. These results redefine the role of the TPLATE complex and implicate it as a key component of the evolutionarily distinct plant endocytosis mechanism, which mediates endocytic membrane bending against the high-turgor pressure in plant cells.

International audience; Statement: We present detailed novel quantitative imaging protocols and review 15 pharmacological and genetic manipulation to provide standardized experimental approaches 16 for the investigation of plant clathrin-mediated endocytosis at multiple scales. Abstract 18 Clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) is a crucial cellular process implicated in many aspects 19 of plant growth, development, intra-and inter-cellular signaling, nutrient uptake and 20 pathogen defense. Despite these significant roles, little is known about the precise molecular 21 details of how it functions in planta. In order to facilitate the direct quantitative study of plant 22 CME, here we review current routinely used methods and present refined, standardized 23 quantitative imaging protocols which allow the detailed characterization of CME at multiple 24 scales in plant tissues. These include: (i) an efficient electron microscopy protocol for the 25 imaging of Arabidopsis CME vesicles in situ, thus providing a method for the detailed 26 characterization of the ultra-structure of clathrin-coated vesicles; (ii) a detailed protocol and 27 analysis for quantitative live-cell fluorescence microscopy to precisely examine the temporal 28 interplay of endocytosis components during single CME events; (iii) a semi-automated 29 analysis to allow the quantitative characterization of global internalization of cargos in whole 30 plant tissues; and (iv) an overview and validation of useful genetic and pharmacological tools 31 to interrogate the molecular mechanisms and function of CME in intact plant samples. 32 2

Clathrin-mediated endocytosis (CME) is a crucial cellular process implicated in many aspects of plant growth, development, intra- and intercellular signaling, nutrient uptake and pathogen defense. Despite these significant roles, little is known about the precise molecular details of how CME functions