Acta Univ. Palacki. Olomuc., Fac. Med. Volume 141, 1998

SIGNALLING TOWARDS CELL WALL SYNTHESIS IN BUDDING YEAST

Vladislav Raclavský

Centre of Molecular Biology and Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Palacký University, CZ-775 15 Olomouc, Czech Republic

The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has long proved to be a very useful model in cell biology. Its cell morphologyis established and maintained at least in part by the cell wall, a rigid but dynamic structure that affords mechanical protection.Although fungal cell walls represent an unique phenomenon, recent progress in research has shown striking parallelsbetween yeast and mammalian cells in the area of cell morphogenesis and proliferation. Further studies promise to shedcommon light on the processes of cell morphogenesis including the intersections with proliferation control. This reviewfocuses on the recent progress in this promising area in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.The process of cell wall synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae was reviewed by several authors recently1,2,3. Briefly, thecell wall represents a complex structure of cross-linked chitin, β-(1,6)-d-glucan, β-(1,3)-D-glucan and mannoproteins.Chitin and β-(1,3)-D-glucan are synthesized by enzymatic complexes at the cell membrane and extruded into the periplasmicspace, mannoproteins are synthesized along the yeast secretory pathway, and the site of β-(1,6)-D-glucan synthesis is stillunknown. The principal motif which interconnects individual cell wall constituents was recently identified by Kollár4 etal. The mechanisms of cross-linking of the polymers in the wall remain unknown, however. Recently, nevertheless,substantial progress has been achieved in understanding the signalling pathways which target the cell wall construction.

Keywords: Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Budding yeast, Cell wall, Signalling, PKC1

Published: July 1, 1998  Show citation