Transport of proteins to the yeast vacuole: autophagy, cytoplasm-to-vacuole targeting, and role of the vacuole in degradation

The vacuole/lysosome performs a central role in degradation. Proteins and o rganelles are transported to the vacuole by selective and non-selective pat hways. Transport to the vacuole by autophagy is the primary mode for degrad ation of cytoplasmic constituents under starvation conditions. Autophagy ov erlaps mechanistically and genetically with a biosynthetic pathway termed C vt (Cytoplasm-to-vacuole targeting) that operates under vegetative conditio ns to transport the resident vacuolar hydrolase aminopeptidase I (API). API import has been dissected to reveal the action of a novel mechanism that t ransports cargo within double-membrane vesicles. Recent work has uncovered molecular components involved in autophagy and the Cvt pathway.