Monitoring chitin deposition during septum assembly in budding yeast

Abstract

The synthesis of the septum is a critical step during cytokinesis in the fungal cell. Moreover, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae septum assembly depends mostly on the proper synthesis and deposition of chitin and, accordingly, on the timely regulation of chitin synthases. In this chapter, we will see how to follow chitin synthesis by two complementary approaches: monitoring chitin deposition in vivo at the septum by calcofluor staining and fluorescence microscopy, and measuring the chitin synthase activities responsible for this synthesis.