Subcellular distribution of tail-anchored proteins in Arabidopsis.

Tail-anchored (TA) proteins function in key cellular processes in eukaryotic cells, such as vesicle trafficking, protein translocation and regulation of transcription. They anchor to internal cell membranes by a C-terminal transmembrane domain, which also serves as a targeting sequence. Targeting occurs post-translationally, via pathways that are specific to the precursor, which makes TA proteins a model system for investigating post-translational protein targeting.