Demonstration in yeast of the function of BP-80, a putative plant vacuolar sorting receptor

BP-80, later renamed VSRPS-1, is a putative receptor involved in sorting proteins such as proaleurain to the lytic vacuole, with its N-terminal domain recognizing the vacuolar sorting determinant. Although all VSRPS-1 characteristics and in vitro binding properties described so far favored its receptor function, this function remained to be demonstrated. Here, we used green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a reporter in a yeast mutant strain defective for its own vacuolar receptor, Vps10p. By expressing VSRPS-1 together with GFP fused to the vacuolar sorting determinant of petunia proaleurain, we were able to efficiently redirect the reporter to the yeast vacuole. VSRPS-1 is ineffective on GFP either alone or when fused with another type of plant vacuolar sorting determinant from a chitinase. The plant VSRPS-1 therefore interacts specifically with the proaleurain vacuolar sorting determinant in vivo, and this interaction leads to the transport of the reporter protein through the yeast secretory pathway to the vacuole. This finding demonstrates VSRPS-1 receptor function but also emphasizes the differences in the spectrum of ligands between Vps10p and its plant equivalent.