A Combinatorial Lipid Code Shapes the Electrostatic Landscape of Plant Endomembranes

Publication date: Available online 10 May 2018
Source:Developmental Cell
Author(s): Matthieu Pierre Platre, Lise C. Noack, Mehdi Doumane, Vincent Bayle, Mathilde Laetitia Audrey Simon, Lilly Maneta-Peyret, Laetitia Fouillen, Thomas Stanislas, Laia Armengot, Přemysl Pejchar, Marie-Cécile Caillaud, Martin Potocký, Alenka Čopič, Patrick Moreau, Yvon Jaillais
Membrane surface charge is critical for the transient, yet specific recruitment of proteins with polybasic regions to certain organelles. In eukaryotes, the plasma membrane (PM) is the most electronegative compartment of the cell, which specifies its identity. As such, membrane electrostatics is a central parameter in signaling, intracellular trafficking, and polarity. Here, we explore which are the lipids that control membrane electrostatics using plants as a model. We show that phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate (PI4P), phosphatidic acidic (PA), and phosphatidylserine (PS) are separately required to generate the electrostatic signature of the plant PM. In addition, we reveal the existence of an electrostatic territory that is organized as a gradient along the endocytic pathway and is controlled by PS/PI4P combination. Altogether, we propose that combinatorial lipid composition of the cytosolic leaflet of organelles not only defines the electrostatic territory but also distinguishes different functional compartments within this territory by specifying their varying surface charges.

Teaser

Platre et al. show that plant plasma membrane-derived compartments each have a distinct electrostatic signature, set up by a combinatorial code of anionic phospholipids. This "electrostatic code" may represent a fundamental patterning principle of the endomembrane system and be a key determinant in protein targeting.


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