MEMBRANE TRAFFIC MOTORS

There is a wealth of data suggesting that microtubules and associated motor proteins play important roles in orchestrating membrane traffic within higher eukaryotes, with myosins and actin filaments fulfilling similar functions in organisms such as fungi, algae and plants. In add ition, evidence is accumulating that both cytoskeletal systems can co- operate within one cell. Recent studies have highlighted how individua l motor proteins can act at multiple steps in the membrane-traffic pat hways, and in contrast, how more than one motor type may be involved i n each transport step and in generating organelle morphology.