Peroxisome extensions deliver the Arabidopsis SDP1 lipase to oil bodies

Lipid droplets/oil bodies (OBs) are lipid-storage organelles that play a crucial role as an energy resource in a variety of eukaryotic cells. Lipid stores are mobilized in the case of food deprivation or high energy demands—for example, during certain developmental processes in animals and plants. OB degradation is achieved by lipases that hydrolyze triacylglycerols (TAGs) into free fatty acids and glycerol. In the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, Sugar-Dependent 1 (SDP1) was identified as the major TAG lipase involved in lipid reserve mobilization during seedling establishment. Although the enzymatic activity of SDP1 is associated with the membrane of OBs, its targeting to the OB surface remains uncharacterized. Here we demonstrate that the core retromer, a complex involved in protein trafficking, participates in OB biogenesis, lipid store degradation, and SDP1 localization to OBs. We also report an as-yet-undescribed mechanism for lipase transport in eukaryotic cells, with SDP1 being first localized to the peroxisome membrane at early stages of seedling growth and then possibly moving to the OB surface through peroxisome tubulations. Finally, we show that the timely transfer of SDP1 to the OB membrane requires a functional core retromer. In addition to revealing previously unidentified functions of the retromer complex in plant cells, our work provides unanticipated evidence for the role of peroxisome dynamics in interorganelle communication and protein transport.

Effect of the nematicide oxamyl on lipid utilization and infectivity inGlobodera rostochiensis

SummaryAt field rates (ca 0·1–10 μg active ingredient/ml), non-fumigant nematicides such as oxamyl do not kill plant-parasitic nematodes directly but act by impairing neuromuscular activity. The present study has shown that neutral lipid levels in 2nd-stage (infective) juveniles ofGlobodera rostochiensis, which had been incubated with the oximecarbamate nematicide oxamyl (1 μg a.i./ml) for between 8 and 35 days, were significantly (P< 0·05) greater when compared with controls maintained in water alone. The difference between treatments was found to be due principally to changes in the lipid content in the posterior half of the body which appears to act as the major long-term lipid store. When nematodes were allowed to recover for 72 h following incubation for 35 days with oxamyl, their infectivity was not significantly (P> 0·05) different from that of controls. This work is discussed in relation to the action of oxamyl and similar nematicides and to the use of controlled-release formulations as a means of increasing their efficacy.

Evidence for the presence of a pool of glycerides with a rapid rate of turnover in brown fat from newborn rabbits

1. The specific radioactivity of [14C]glycerol released during the incubation of brown fat with [14C]glucose is much greater than that of the tissue lipid glycerol. 2. From a study of the release of [14C]glycerol from pre-labelled brown fat, it is concluded that the tissue contains a pool of glycerides with a higher rate of turnover than those in the main lipid store. 3. This pool contains newly synthesized glycerides, has a half-life of 25–30min and supplies about 25% of the glycerol liberated by brown fat. 4. Thus, a significant fraction of the total14C incorporated from glucose into brown-fat lipids is released as [14C]glycerol during an incubation.