plant-transport
Plant transport refers to the biological processes by which water, minerals, sugars, and signaling molecules move within a plant through specialized vascular tissues such as xylem and phloem. Understanding these transport mechanisms is fundamental to plant science, as they govern nutrient distribution, stress responses, and the accumulation of bioactive compounds in different tissues. Research in this area informs crop improvement strategies and the targeted production of pharmaceutically valuable plant metabolites.
PubMed · 2026-04-06
Scientists identified a molecular pump protein in red sage (a medicinal herb) that moves the plant's potent healing compounds — called tanshinones — across cell walls and out of cells. This discovery reveals, for the first time, a key mechanism by which red sage transports its medicinal molecules, opening the door to producing more of these compounds for medicine.
SmABCG24 is a half-size ABC transporter protein found on the outer membrane of red sage cells, making it the first characterized tanshinone transporter in this species.
Yeast cells engineered to express SmABCG24 efficiently exported tanshinone IIA and showed significantly reduced cytotoxicity from the compound, confirming active export function.
Transport activity depended on both ATP hydrolysis and the proton gradient, as blocking either process inhibited tanshinone export, revealing a dual-energy requirement.
