This protein forms part of the Class C vacuolar protein sorting (Vps) complex. Vps16 is essential for vacuolar protein sorting, which is essential for viability in plants, but not yeast [1]. The Class C Vps complex is required for SNARE-mediated membrane fusion at the lysosome-like yeast vacuole. It is thought to play essential roles in membrane docking and fusion at the Golgi-to-endosome and endosome-to-vacuole stages of transport [2]. The role of VPS16 in this complex is not known.

1: VACUOLELESS1 is an essential gene required for vacuole formation and morphogenesis in Arabidopsis. Rojo E, Gillmor CS, Kovaleva V, Somerville CR, Raikhel NV; Dev Cell 2001;1:303-310. PMID:11702788

2: The class C Vps complex functions at multiple stages of the vacuolar transport pathway. Peterson MR, Emr SD; Traffic 2001;2:476-486. PMID:11422941