Extracellular Vacuole-derived bodies (EVacs) mediate RNA secretion in plants

Abstract

Extracellular RNAs are found in the plant extracellular space, but how they are exported from cells remains unclear. We found that the plant vacuole is a major source of extracellular RNA and identified a class of large extracellular vacuole-derived bodies, which we termed EVacs, that are key mediators of this transport. EVacs are marked by the vacuolar membrane (tonoplast) proteins {gamma}-TIP and V-ATPase and originate as intravacuolar structures formed by inward folding of the tonoplast, encapsulating intact cytoplasmic material, including both RNAs and proteins. These intravacuolar bodies then escape the vacuole and are subsequently released from the plasma membrane of mesophyll cells into the apoplast. These findings provide a novel mechanism for the unconventional secretion of macromolecules in plants.

Outer membrane proteins mediate unconventional secretion of Pseudomonas peroxidase through crosstalk between the Sec pathway and outer membrane vesicles
Congying Liang, Wenping Zhu, Lu Lin
PLOS Genetics15 Sep 2026Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textCell biology MicrobiologyPLOS
An INSR-BECN1-KIAA0825 complex prevents hepatocytic insulin receptor secretion via extracellular vesicles against monogenic diabetes
K. Kuramoto, M. Chen, C. He
bioRxiv13 Sep 2026PreprintCC BYFull textCell biologybioRxiv
Secretion of small extracellular vesicles is required for commissural axon guidance at a choice point
A. Dumoulin, J. M. R. Wyss, E. T. Stoeckli
bioRxiv9 Sep 2026PreprintCC BY-NC-NDFull textNeurosciencebioRxiv
P2RX7 drives inflammatory microglia and pathogenic extracellular vesicle secretion in tauopathy
Victor Bodart‐Santos, Arun Reddy Ravula, Yang You +17
Neuron1 Nov 2026Peer-reviewedCC BYFull text6 citedNeuroscienceOpenAlex
DECTIN1⁺ myeloid-derived suppressor cells mediate therapeutic effect of MSCs in haplo-HSCT for severe aplastic anemia
Fu-Hao Yu, Gui-Yan Jia, Pei-Lin Li +6
Communications Biology6 Nov 2026Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0General biologyNatureCrossref

Cite

BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{borniego2026extracellular,
  title = {{Extracellular Vacuole-derived bodies (EVacs) mediate RNA secretion in plants}},
  author = {M. L. Borniego and M. Single-Rastogi and M. H. Sampangi-Ramaiah and A.-Y. Liu and G. Gonzalez-Gutierrez and S. J. Cox-Vazquez and C.-T. Vo and A. Fukudome and R. J. Vazquez and B. C. Meyers and P. Baldrich and R. W. Innes},
  howpublished = {bioRxiv},
  year = {2026},
  month = aug,
  doi = {10.64898/2026.08.31.748268},
  url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.31.748268v1},
  note = {CC BY-ND},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Extracellular Vacuole-derived bodies (EVacs) mediate RNA secretion in plants
AU  - M. L. Borniego
AU  - M. Single-Rastogi
AU  - M. H. Sampangi-Ramaiah
AU  - A.-Y. Liu
AU  - G. Gonzalez-Gutierrez
AU  - S. J. Cox-Vazquez
AU  - C.-T. Vo
AU  - A. Fukudome
AU  - R. J. Vazquez
AU  - B. C. Meyers
AU  - P. Baldrich
AU  - R. W. Innes
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/08/31
PB  - bioRxiv
DO  - 10.64898/2026.08.31.748268
UR  - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.31.748268v1
AB  - Extracellular RNAs are found in the plant extracellular space, but how they are exported from cells remains unclear. We found that the plant vacuole is a major source of extracellular RNA and identified a class of large extracellular vacuole-derived bodies, which we termed EVacs, that are key mediators of this transport. EVacs are marked by the vacuolar membrane (tonoplast) proteins {gamma}-TIP and V-ATPase and originate as intravacuolar structures formed by inward folding of the tonoplast, encapsulating intact cytoplasmic material, including both RNAs and proteins. These intravacuolar bodies then escape the vacuole and are subsequently released from the plasma membrane of mesophyll cells into the apoplast. These findings provide a novel mechanism for the unconventional secretion of macromolecules in plants.
ER  -

Abstract

Related

Cite