This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Virag, A.
Right arrow Articles by Harris, S. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Virag, A.
Right arrow Articles by Harris, S. D.

Next Article 

Eukaryotic Cell, June 2006, p. 881-895, Vol. 5, No. 6
1535-9778/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/EC.00036-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Functional Characterization of Aspergillus nidulans Homologues of Saccharomyces cerevisiae Spa2 and Bud6

Aleksandra Virag and Steven D. Harris*

Plant Science Initiative and Department of Plant Pathology, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska

Received 6 February 2006/ Accepted 12 April 2006

The importance of polarized growth for fungi has elicited significant effort directed at better understanding underlying mechanisms of polarization, with a focus on yeast systems. At sites of tip growth, multiple protein complexes assemble and coordinate to ensure that incoming building material reaches the appropriate destination sites, and polarized growth is maintained. One of these complexes is the polarisome that consists of Spa2, Bud6, Pea2, and Bni1 in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Filamentous hyphae differ in their development and life style from yeasts and likely regulate polarized growth in a different way. This is expected to reflect on the composition and presence of protein complexes that assemble at the hyphal tip. In this study we searched for polarisome homologues in the model filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans and characterized the S. cerevisiae Spa2 and Bud6 homologues, SpaA and BudA. Compared to the S. cerevisiae Spa2, SpaA lacks domain II but has three additional domains that are conserved within filamentous fungi. Gene replacement strains and localization studies show that SpaA functions exclusively at the hyphal tip, while BudA functions at sites of septum formation and possibly at hyphal tips. We show that SpaA is not required for the assembly or maintenance of the Spitzenkörper. We propose that the core function of the polarisome in polarized growth is maintained but with different contributions of polarisome components to the process.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Plant Science Initiative, University of Nebraska, N234 Beadle Center, Lincoln, NE 68588-0660. Phone: (402) 472-2938. Fax: (402) 472-3139. E-mail: sharri1{at}unlnotes.unl.edu.

Eukaryotic Cell, June 2006, p. 881-895, Vol. 5, No. 6
1535-9778/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/EC.00036-06
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Kohli, M., Galati, V., Boudier, K., Roberson, R. W., Philippsen, P. (2008). Growth-speed-correlated localization of exocyst and polarisome components in growth zones of Ashbya gossypii hyphal tips. J. Cell Sci. 121: 3878-3889 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Harris, S. D. (2008). Branching of fungal hyphae: regulation, mechanisms and comparison with other branching systems.. Mycologia 100: 823-832 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kasuga, T., Glass, N. L. (2008). Dissecting Colony Development of Neurospora crassa Using mRNA Profiling and Comparative Genomics Approaches. Eukaryot Cell 7: 1549-1564 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Semighini, C. P., Harris, S. D. (2008). Regulation of Apical Dominance in Aspergillus nidulans Hyphae by Reactive Oxygen Species. Genetics 179: 1919-1932 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wang, S.-L., Fan, K.-Q., Yang, X., Lin, Z.-X., Xu, X.-P., Yang, K.-Q. (2008). CabC, an EF-Hand Calcium-Binding Protein, Is Involved in Ca2+-Mediated Regulation of Spore Germination and Aerial Hypha Formation in Streptomyces coelicolor. J. Bacteriol. 190: 4061-4068 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zhao, X.-M., Wang, R.-S., Chen, L., Aihara, K. (2008). Uncovering signal transduction networks from high-throughput data by integer linear programming. Nucleic Acids Res 36: e48-e48 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Choi, Y.-E, Shim, W.-B. (2008). Functional characterization of Fusarium verticillioides CPP1, a gene encoding a putative protein phosphatase 2A catalytic subunit. Microbiology 154: 326-336 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Takeshita, N., Higashitsuji, Y., Konzack, S., Fischer, R. (2008). Apical Sterol-rich Membranes Are Essential for Localizing Cell End Markers That Determine Growth Directionality in the Filamentous Fungus Aspergillus nidulans. Mol. Biol. Cell 19: 339-351 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Knechtle, P., Wendland, J., Philippsen, P. (2006). The SH3/PH Domain Protein AgBoi1/2 Collaborates with the Rho-Type GTPase AgRho3 To Prevent Nonpolar Growth at Hyphal Tips of Ashbya gossypii. Eukaryot Cell 5: 1635-1647 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»