Rho-GTPase-regulated vesicle trafficking in plant cell polarity

ROPs (Rho of plants) belong to a large family of plant-specific Rho-like small GTPases that function as essential molecular switches to control diverse cellular processes including cytoskeleton organization, cell polarization, cytokinesis, cell differentiation and vesicle trafficking. Although the machineries of vesicle trafficking and cell polarity in plants have been individually well addressed, how ROPs co-ordinate those processes is still largely unclear. Recent progress has been made towards an understanding of the co-ordination of ROP signalling and trafficking of PIN (PINFORMED) transporters for the plant hormone auxin in both root and leaf pavement cells. PIN transporters constantly shuttle between the endosomal compartments and the polar plasma membrane domains, therefore the modulation of PIN-dependent auxin transport between cells is a main developmental output of ROP-regulated vesicle trafficking. The present review focuses on these cellular mechanisms, especially the integration of ROP-based vesicle trafficking and plant cell polarity.