Isolation of the Plant Exocyst Complex

Abstract

The exocyst, conserved from yeast to plants to mammals, is a hetero-octameric complex that mediates tethering of secretory vesicles to designated sites on the plasma membrane during polarized exocytosis. Because structural studies of the intact exocyst complex have been greatly limited by the low yields of purified proteins, many aspects of the exocyst functions remain poorly understood. Here, we present the protocols for the isolation and purification of the recombinant and the native plant exocyst complex. Given the known diversification of the exocyst subunits in plants, our protocols will likely open the possibility of unraveling the functional significance of these subunits in the context of the fully assembled exocyst complex.

Keywords: Arabidopsis thaliana; CATCHR family; Cryo-electron microscopy; Exocyst; Exocytosis.