COPI acts in both vesicular and tubular transport

Intracellular transport is now appreciated to occur through two general types of carriers, either vesicles (1, 2) or tubules (3, 4). Coat proteins act as the core machinery that initiates vesicle formation (1, 2), but the counterpart that initiates tubule formation has been unclear. Here, we find that the Coat Protein I (COPI) complex initially drives the formation of Golgi buds. Subsequently, a set of opposing lipid enzymatic activities determines whether these buds become vesicles or tubules. Lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) acyltransferase type γ (LPAAT–γ) promotes COPI vesicle fission for retrograde vesicular transport. In contrast, cytosolic phospholipase A2 type α (cPLA2–α) inhibits this fission event to induce COPI tubules, which act in anterograde intra-Golgi transport and Golgi ribbon formation. These findings not only advance a molecular understanding of how COPI vesicle fission is achieved, but also shed new insight into how COPI acts in intra-Golgi transport and reveal an unexpected mechanistic relationship between vesicular and tubular transport.