Morphogenesis: Control of Cell Types and Shape

Abstract

Many of the genes required during polarised growth establishment and maintenance comprise a conserved core which is used to orchestrate global changes in morphology in a broad range of fungi, and therefore generate the various cell types produced by these organisms. The ability to utilize these conserved core components to elicit a variety of cell shapes in different organisms is most likely a result of differences in the specific modes of regulation of these proteins and their upstream activators, in addition to a diverse set of downstream effectors. The field is at an exciting stage, with the major players identified and characterised in a number of systems, and it will be interesting to s..