Résumé
Maize plasma membrane aquaporins (ZmPIPs) (PIP, plasma membrane intrinsic protein) fall into two groups, ZmPIP1s and ZmPIP2s, which, when expressed alone in mesophyll protoplasts, are found in different subcellular locations. While ZmPIP1s are retained in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), ZmPIP2s are found in the plasma membrane (PM). We previously showed that, when co-expressed with ZmPIP2s, ZmPIP1s are relocalized to the PM and this relocalization results from the formation of hetero-oligomers between ZmPIP1s and ZmPIP2s. To determine the domains responsible for the ER retention and PM localization, respectively, of ZmPIP1s and ZmPIP2s, truncated and mutated ZmPIPs were generated, together with chimeric proteins created by swapping the N- or C-terminal regions of ZmPIP2 and ZmPIP1. These mutated proteins were fused to the mYFP and/or mCFP and the fusion proteins were expressed in maize mesophyll protoplasts and localized by microscopy. This allowed us to identify a diacidic motif, DIE (Asp-Ile-Glu), at position 4-6 of the N-terminus of ZmPIP2;5 that is essential for ER export. This motif was conserved and functional in ZmPIP2;4, but absent in ZmPIP2;1. In addition, we showed that the N-terminus of ZmPIP2;5 was not sufficient to cause the export of ZmPIP1;2 from the ER. A study of ZmPIP1;2 mutants suggested that the N- and C-termini of this protein are probably not involved in ER retention. Together, these results show that trafficking of maize PM aquaporins is differentially regulated depending on the isoform and involves a specific signal and mechanism.