User:Duar9035/Plant ABC transporters

Plant ABC Transporters
The genome of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana is capable of encoding 120 ABC proteins compared to 50-70 ABC proteins that are encoded by the human genome and fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster). Plant ABC proteins are categorized in 13 subfamilies on the basis of size (full, half or quarter), orientation, and overall amino acid sequence similarity. Multidrug resistant (MDR) homologs, also known as P-glycoproteins, represent the largest subfamily in plants with 22 members and the second largest overall ABC subfamily. The B subfamily of plant ABC transporters (ABCBs) are characterized by their localization to the plasma membrane. Plant ABCB transporters are characterized by heterologously expressing the them in Escherichia coli, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe (fission yeast), and HeLa cells to determine substrate specificity. Plant ABCB transporters have shown to transport the phytohormone indole-3-acetic acid ( IAA), also known as auxin, the essential regulator for plant growth and development. The directional polar transport of auxin mediates plant environmental responses through processes such as phototropism and gravitropism. Two of the best studied auxin transporters, ABCB1 and ABCB19, have been characterized to be primary auxin exporters. Other ABCB transporters such as ABCB4 participate in both the export and import of auxin. At low intracellular auxin concentrations ABCB4 imports auxin until it reaches a certain threshold which then reverses function to only export auxin.