XVI International Botanical Congess

This talk will address recent advances in our understanding of the function and organization of one subfamily of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, the multidrug resistance-associated proteins (MRPs), from plants and yeast. So-named because of the phenotypes conferred by their animal prototypes, many MRPs are glutathione-conjugate or multispecific organic anion Mg-ATPases active in the transport of glutathionated compounds and other bulky amphipathic anions. Acting downstream of the first two phases of toxin detoxification, processes that likely converge on the MRPs from plants and yeast include the detoxification of herbicides and other organic xenobiotics, the alleviation of oxidative damage, the storage of endotoxins, heavy metal sequestration and the vacuolation of natural pigments.