GTPases in Hyphal Growth

Hyphal growth is a fundamental event in filamentous fungi, in that they grow by means of apical expansion of tube-shaped cells (hyphae). This event requires vesicular trafficking, reorganization of the cytoskeleton, construction of the cell wall. The underlying molecular mechanism it is complex and diverse. GTPases play important roles as molecular switches, passing from the active-GTP bound state to the inactive-GDP bound state. These proteins turn various pathways on or off and are crucial regulators of hyphal growth, septation, cell wall synthesis and the exocytic and endocytic pathway. In particular, the roles of Ras, Arf, Rab, Rho have been deepened