Research in the scientific discipline of biology is significant for better understanding how life works. Those who conduct research in this field must know what systems to use. The researchers for this background essay used the protein phosphatase system to analyze inorganic phosphate. This is the best system to use since certain methods must be closely followed  (Dick et al.). As a result of this, the reader knows that the information provided in the journal article is accurate. If a different system was used, there would have been a slight error in data. 

In biology, every organism continues to live because of substances and processes. If these substances and processes are changed even by a small detail. It is important to remember that every organism in life requires different components to survive and thrive. However, inorganic phosphate is one of those well needed macronutrients that existing organisms need (Dick et al.). Without it, the cell will slowly decline in various areas such as being a foundation of metabolic processes with carbon and amino acids, and ATP (Dick et al.). The way inorganic phosphate helps plants differs the way it helps animals which is commonly the case for many. When it comes to plants, it is a vital factor for the plant to have proper growth and undergo development (Dick et al.). The Pi signal transduction system in fungi controls the expression of many phosphate responsive genes involved in extracellular Pi absorption and scavenging (Dick et al.). One major area that will experience a critical decline without inorganic phosphate is metabolism. 

Metabolism is very important to organisms since organisms rely on energy to go about any function. This is because the macronutrient also plays an important role in cellular metabolism. Two of these main roles are transferring energy amongst the cell and activating protein (Dick et al.). To understand why this can be so detrimental is to know what metabolism is. Metabolism is the process of an organism receiving energy from foods it consumes. If there is a deficiency in this process, then the energy will not be received properly and protein levels will fall (Dick et al.). Inorganic phosphate also relates to the phospholipid structure and metabolism. 

Inorganic phosphate has a connection with phospholipid structure because it is used during biosynthesis (Dick et al.). As mentioned inorganic phosphate relates to metabolism since it aids in the processes that involve it. Multimallear organelles are organelles that are located in the membrane (Hariri et al.). They all are different in sizes which can range from 100 to 2400 nm (Hariri et al.). The functions are typically different from regular organelles. Mulimallear organelles help with storing lipids and with discharge of substances (Hariri et al.). Without multimallear organelles, an organism would decline in specific areas where these organelles strengthen the cell. 

In conclusion, macronutrients and mulimallear organelles are significant to an organism’s survival. Not all organisms are the same, especially between animals and plants. However, many of the processes are the same but may include a few differences that better work for them. 

Figure 2 describes how two different flourset tags are added to the protein PXo so that we are able to see its composition. The first is GFP (green fluorescent protein) is put on the head end of the protein (N-terminal)  and glows green. HA tag is also added, glows red and is put on the tail end of the protein (C-terminal). When these two colors overlap they produce a yellow glow. From part A of the figure we can see that there is a lot of overlap present. The blue spot that is seen is the DAPI which shows where the nucleus of a cell is. It is important to observe the shape and size of each protein, the first two pictures (A) show Pxo and Pxo bodies (potential organel). The picture (B) was done with electron microscope. They used a technique called “Immunogold labelling,” since gold is very electron dense it shows up as a dense black spot on the mircoscope. C which is the next picture which shows where the the PXo proteins are located and the shape. There are 20 organels, D is a better representation of C. D shows you the number of immunogold labels per square mircometer. From this graph (D), you can observe a increase number in PXo bodies. Panels E-F are all fluorescence images that show two or three different colors. The green fluorescent will always show the Pxo marker. The red will change and is different for each set of panels. Panel E the red shows “LysoTracker,” this detects the acidic a component of the cell, it is usually lysosomes but always.For this panel (E) some yellow can be observed this is the green overlapping the red, theis organelle is not that acidic. Panel F uses Lamp 1 which is a lysosome marker, I believe we are not looking at lysosomes. Panel G, red is now showing Nile red which is a lipid dye. This helps to see if the Pxo bodies are associated with lipids inside in the cell, by seeing yellow we know that there is some overlap. Panel H, shows Man II which is associated with the golgi. Pxo bodies and the golgi don’t seem to overlap, there is only specs of yellow. Panel I, shows glycosilation, this occurs through the rough endoplasmic reticulum (ER), basically it shows sugar being attached to proteins (mainly) and lipids. These PXo bodies have a little bit of yellow so they are glyclosilated. Panel J, P-Cho, shows phospholipid this will help determine if PXo bodies contain phospholipid or not since it is a tracer. From the phospholipid tracer, it is clear that these PXo bodies are phospholipids. Panel K, shows Dextran, this is a marker for endocytosis. They needed to be able to tell PXo bodies are apart of the endocytosis vessel, for this happen the cell takes in an unknown substance from the outside and bring it to the cytoplasm. Panel K shows us that there are no PXo bodies associated with the endocytosis. PXo bodies can be associated with lysosomes, lipids, glycosylation and phospholipids. 

For figure 3, we know that PXo regulates levels of inorganic phosphate in the cytoplasm based on the colors that are shown. There are different colors shown depending on whether or not the level of inorganic phosphate is a high level or a low level. If there are higher levels of inorganic phosphate located in the cytoplasm then the color presented will be blue. If there are lower levels of inorganic phosphate then the color presented will be yellow. 

It is simple to understand this since it is very distinct in terms of coloration. By looking at the heat maps, blue means that there is a lower fret ratio. Ultimately, this means that there is more blue than yellow, and this goes along with the high levels of inorganic phosphate in the cytoplasm as mentioned. The red areas indicate that these have high fluorescence ratios, where there is more yellow fluorescence that can be seen. This corresponds to low levels of inorganic phosphate in the cytoplasm because Pi could not bind between these two molecules to prevent the Fret. 

We can tell that the formation of PXo bodies depends on availability of inorganic phosphate based on figure 4 by looking at the sizing. If there is a higher level of inorganic phosphate, then the PXo bodies will be bigger in size. As opposed to lower levels of inorganic phosphate, the PXo bodies will be smaller. 

When phosphate levels drop in the cytoplasm, the types of phospholipids found in PXo bodies increases. This is seen in figure 5 discreetly. In the figure labeled D, there is 90.6% of phospholipids with 3% of phosphate. In the figure labeled E, there are 84.2% phospholipids with 4% of phosphate. 

This data does convince me that these PXo bodies form distinct organelles with an unique biochemical function in the cell. I think this because of the underlying and extensive functions that allow for a cell to thrive and survive. There are many functions seen throughout the gathered data that are significant to the cell itself. If one is taken away, then something will greatly be affected, negatively. For example, if there is a situation where levels of phosphate drops, PXo will also drop. This then will cause an issue within the cell. If PXo bodies did not form organelles that have serious functions, such a thing would not be in occurrence.

Works Cited 

Dick, Cláudia F., et al. “Inorganic Phosphate as an Important Regulator of Phosphatases.” Enzyme Research, June 2011. PubMed Central, doi.org/10.4061/2011/103980.Hariri, Mehrdad, et al. “Biogenesis of Multilamellar Bodies via Autophagy.” Molecular Biology of the Cell, 11 Jan. 2000, doi.org/10.1091/mbc.11.1.255.

Xu, C., Xu, J., Tang, H.W., Ericsson, M., Weng, J.H., DiRusso, J., Hu, Y., Ma, W., Asara, J.M., and Perrimin, N. A phosphat-sensing organelle regulates phosphate and tissue homeostasis. Nature. 2023; 617, 798-806. 10.1043/s41486-023-06039-y.