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Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, March 2007, p. 48-96, Vol. 71, No. 1
1092-2172/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/MMBR.00028-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Central Roles of Small GTPases in the Development of Cell Polarity in Yeast and Beyond

Hay-Oak Park1*,{dagger} and Erfei Bi2*,{dagger}

Department of Molecular Genetics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio,1 Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania2

Summary: The establishment of cell polarity is critical for the development of many organisms and for the function of many cell types. A large number of studies of diverse organisms from yeast to humans indicate that the conserved, small-molecular-weight GTPases function as key signaling proteins involved in cell polarization. The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a particularly attractive model because it displays pronounced cell polarity in response to intracellular and extracellular cues. Cells of S. cerevisiae undergo polarized growth during various phases of their life cycle, such as during vegetative growth, mating between haploid cells of opposite mating types, and filamentous growth upon deprivation of nutrition such as nitrogen. Substantial progress has been made in deciphering the molecular basis of cell polarity in budding yeast. In particular, it becomes increasingly clear how small GTPases regulate polarized cytoskeletal organization, cell wall assembly, and exocytosis at the molecular level and how these GTPases are regulated. In this review, we discuss the key signaling pathways that regulate cell polarization during the mitotic cell cycle and during mating.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address for Hay-Oak Park: Department of Molecular Genetics, The Ohio State University, 484 West 12th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210-1292. Phone: (614) 688-4575. Fax: (614) 292-4466. E-mail: park.294{at}osu.edu. Mailing address for Erfei Bi: Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Biomedical Research Building II/III, Room 1012, 421 Curie Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19104-6058. Phone: (215) 573-6676. Fax: (215) 898-9871. E-mail: ebi{at}mail.med.upenn.edu.

{dagger} H.-O.P. and E.B. contributed equally to this work.

Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews, March 2007, p. 48-96, Vol. 71, No. 1
1092-2172/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/MMBR.00028-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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