title: Yeast mating: a model system for studying cell and nuclear fusion.
abstract: Haploid yeast cells mate to form a zygote, whose progeny are diploid cells. A fundamentally sexual event, related to fertilization, yeast mating nevertheless exhibits cytological properties that appear similar to somatic cell fusion. A large collection of mutations that lead to defects in various stages of mating, including cell fusion, has allowed a detailed dissection of the overall pathway. Recent advances in imaging methods, together with powerful methods of genetic analysis, make yeast mating a superb platform for investigation of cell fusion. An understanding of yeast cell fusion will provide insight into fundamental mechanisms of cell signaling, cell polarization, and membrane fusion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Casey A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Ydenberg
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Rose
mesh_terms: D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism*; D016764:Cell Polarity; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000378:metabolism; D008561:Membrane Fusion; D008954:Models, Biological; D010675:Pheromones / Q000378:metabolism; D012098:Reproduction; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D010675:Pheromones