Cytoskeleton, polarized growth, and the cell cycle in Aspergillus nidulans

Abstract

15.1 Introduction Microtubules (MTs), filamentous actin (F-actin), and their associated motor proteins, kinesin, dynein, and myosin, play important roles in all eukaryotes providing cells with a dynamic structural framework called the cytoskeleton. The cytoskeleton plays crucial roles in many processes that require reorganization of the cytoplasm, such as growth, nuclear division, and cell division. In this chapter, we review the organization of the cytoskeleton in filamentous fungi, its role in polarized growth, mitosis and cell division. We focus on Aspergillus nidulans because work on this species has provided major insights in this area, most of which pertains to eukaryotes generally, but other fungal systems are mentioned and compared throughout the chapter.