DISCOVERING THE POLES IN YEAST

How cells generate and orientate polarized growth is of fundamental im portance to understanding cell morphogenesis. The budding yeast Saccha romyces cerevisiae and the distantly related fission yeast Schizosacch aromyces pombe have both been used for genetic analysis of cell morpho genesis. Generation and maintenance of their cell shape require tile f ormation of polarized growth sites and tile correct localization of th ese growth sites on the cell surface with respect to other cellular st ructures. In this review, ale authors discuss rn compare tile mechanis ms used by the two yeasts to achieve polarized growth.