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MBC in Press, published online ahead of print November 17, 2004
Mol. Biol. Cell 10.1091/mbc.E04-09-0798

A more recent version of this article appeared on February 1, 2005
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Submitted on September 12, 2004
Revised on November 4, 2004
Accepted on November 5, 2004

The Role of Microtubules in Rapid Hyphal Tip Growth of Aspergillus nidulans

Tetsuya Horio*{dagger} and Berl R. Oakley*{ddagger}

*Department of Molecular Genetics, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210; {dagger}Institute of Health Biosciences, University of Tokushima Graduate School, Tokushima 770-8503, Japan

Monitoring Editor: J. Richard McIntosh

The filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans grows by polarized extension of hyphal tips. The actin cytoskeleton is essential for polarized growth, but the role of microtubules has been controversial. To define the role of microtubules in tip growth, we used time-lapse microscopy to measure tip growth rates in germlings of A. nidulans and in multinucleate hyphal tip cells, and we used a GFP-{alpha}-tubulin fusion to observe the effects of the antimicrotubule agent benomyl. Hyphal tip cells grew approximately five times faster than binucleate germlings. In germlings, cytoplasmic microtubules disassembled completely in mitosis. In hyphal tip cells, however, microtubules disassembled through most of the cytoplasm in mitosis but persisted in a region near the hyphal tip. The growth rate of hyphal tip cells did not change significantly in mitosis. Benomyl caused rapid disassembly of microtubules in tip cells and a 10 x reduction in growth rate. When benomyl was washed out, microtubules assembled quickly and rapid tip growth resumed. These results demonstrate that while microtubules are not strictly required for polarized growth, they are rate-limiting for the growth of hyphal tip cells. These data also reveal that A. nidulans exhibits a remarkable spatial regulation of microtubule disassembly within hyphal tip cells.

{ddagger}Corresponding author. E-mail: Oakley.2{at}osu.edu






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