Mum, this bud's for you: where do you want it? Roles for Cdc42 in controlling bud site selection in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The regulation of filamentous growth in yeast

Filamentous growth is a nutrient-regulated growth response that occurs in many fungal species. In pathogens, filamentous growth is critical for host-cell attachment, invasion into tissues, and virulence. The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae undergoes filamentous growth, which provides a genetically tractable system to study the molecular basis of the response. Filamentous growth is regulated by evolutionarily conserved signaling pathways. One of these pathways is a mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. A remarkable feature of the filamentous growth MAPK pathway is that it is composed of factors that also function in other pathways. An intriguing challenge therefore has been to understand how pathways that share components establish and maintain their identity. Other canonical signaling pathways-rat sarcoma/protein kinase A (RAS/PKA), sucrose nonfermentable (SNF), and target of rapamycin (TOR)-also regulate filamentous growth, which raises the question of how signals from multiple pathways become integrated into a coordinated response. Together, these pathways regulate cell differentiation to the filamentous type, which is characterized by changes in cell adhesion, cell polarity, and cell shape. How these changes are accomplished is also discussed. High-throughput genomics approaches have recently uncovered new connections to filamentous growth regulation. These connections suggest that filamentous growth is a more complex and globally regulated behavior than is currently appreciated, which may help to pave the way for future investigations into this eukaryotic cell differentiation behavior.

Ectopic expression of a constitutively active Cdc42 small GTPase alters the morphology of haploid and dikaryotic hyphae in the filamentous homobasidiomycete Schizophyllum commune

Cloning of the Cdc42 gene from Schizophyllum commune enabled investigation of the role of ScCdc42 in the regulation of vegetative growth and sexual reproduction in this fungus, which has a well-characterized hyphal cell structure, cytoskeleton, and mating system. Ectopic expression of the constitutively active Sccdc42(G12V) or Sccdc42(Q61L) alleles from native or inducible ScCel1 promoters in haploid hyphae had dramatic effects on hyphal morphology, cytoskeletal structure, and Cdc42 localization. For transformants with constitutively active Sccdc42, polar tip growth of apical cells in the leading hyphae was normal but polar tip growth in side branches was altered, implying different regulation of polarity establishment in the two groups of apical cells. Branch emergence at exceptional sites and isotropic growth of cells near the septum indicated that ScCdc42 regulates branch site selection and subsequent hyphal development. Poor dikaryotization along with irregular clamp connections in mates expressing Sccdc42(G12V) or Sccdc42(Q61L) suggested that Cdc42 also contributes to efficient mating in S. commune.

Cdc42 controls the polarity of the actin and microtubule cytoskeletons through two distinct signal transduction pathways

Cdc42, a Rho family GTPase, is a key regulator of cell polarity. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, it is required for polarized bud formation and pheromone gradient sensing, while in higher eukaryotes, it participates in asymmetric cell division, directional sensing during migration, and morphogenesis. Using a scratch-induced fibroblast migration assay, we previously showed that Cdc42 controls the polarization of both membrane protrusions and the Golgi/centrosome. We now find that Golgi/centrosome polarity is mediated through activation of the Par6/aPKC complex, as previously described in astrocytes. However, this complex is not involved in Cdc42-dependent polarization of protrusions, which instead is mediated by Pak acting through the Rac guanine nucleotide exchange factor, betaPIX. Pak kinase activity is essential for spatially restricting Rac-dependent actin polymerization to the leading edge of the migrating cells, though it is not required for actin polymerization per se. We conclude that in migrating cells, Cdc42 co-ordinately regulates the polarity of the microtubule and actin cytoskeletons through two distinct pathways.