The Golgi apparatus: insights from filamentous fungi

Abstract

Cargo passage through the Golgi, albeit an undoubtedly essential cellular function, is a mechanistically unresolved and much debated process. Although the main molecular players are conserved, diversification of the Golgi among different eukaryotic lineages is providing us with tools to resolve standing controversies. During the past decade the Golgi apparatus of model filamentous fungi, mainly Aspergillus nidulans, has been intensively studied. Here an overview of the most important findings in the field is provided. Golgi architecture and dynamics, as well as the novel cell biology tools that were developed in filamentous fungi in these studies, are addressed. An emphasis is placed on the central role the Golgi has as a crossroads in the endocytic and secretory-traffic pathways in hyphae. Finally the major advances that the A. nidulans Golgi biology has yielded so far regarding our understanding of key Golgi regulators, such as the Rab GTPases RabC^Rab6 and RabE^Rab11, the oligomeric transport protein particle, TRAPPII, and the Golgi guanine nucleotide exchange factors of Arf1, GeaA^GBF1/Gea1 and HypB^BIG/Sec7, are highlighted.

• Aspergillus nidulans
• filamentous fungi
• Golgi apparatus
• intracellular traffic
• secretion

Acknowledgments

I thank Miguel Peñalva for constructive discussions and for critically reading the manuscript. I thank Richard Howard, Michelle Momany and Jaclyn Dee (and of course their collaborators) for kindly letting me use their electron microscopy data. This work was supported by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spain) Grant BIO2012-30965 and Comunidad de Madrid Grant S2010/BMD-2414 to Miguel Peñalva.