The study of membrane traffic in reconstituted cell-free systems has generated an unprecedented amount of new information on the biochemistry, molecular biology and genetics of membrane-based molecular events that underly normal and abnormal cellular function. Many of the individual steps have now been isolated and dissected in simple systems that permit detailed molecular analyses of transport mechanisms and their regulation. Reconstituted events of intercompartment transport include inter-membrane recognition, and controlled membrane fusion-fission reactions. Among the many advances is the...