Plasma membrane repair in plantsThe damage and subsequent repair of the plasma membrane are normal processes in the life of most animal cells such as muscle cells of mammals which are subject to continuous damage as a result of physical activity that are subject . There is still a widespread belief that biological membranes are repaired by purely physical processes. However, it is shown that the plasma membranes is not “autorreparan ‘but this compensation occurs through biochemical processes tightly regulated, at least in cases in which the injury involves disruption of micrometers in the membrane.

These repair processes often take place through the merger by exocytosis of internal membrane calcium-dependent manner in the place where the damage occurred.
This study, coordinated by Dr. Miguel Ángel Botella, University of Malaga, shows that the maintenance of plasma membrane integrity and cell viability in Arabidopsis is dependent protein sinaptotagmina 1, encoded by the gene SYT1, especially in circumstances in which damage occurs in the plasma membrane as are the conditions of osmotic stress or sustained exposure to low temperatures.

The sinaptotagminas are a family of proteins involved in vesicular trafficking that function as calcium sensors in membrane fusion processes dependent on SNARE complex. SYT1 is located in the plasma membrane and binds phospholipids in a calcium-dependent. This makes it the first protein described that is directly involved in the repair process in plant plasma membrane.