title: Fission yeast: in shape to divide.
abstract: How are cell morphogenesis and cell cycle coordinated? The fission yeast is a rod-shaped unicellular organism widely used to study how a cell self-organizes in space and time. Here, we discuss recent advances in understanding how the cell acquires and maintains its regular rod shape and uses it to control cell division. The cellular body plan is established by microtubules, which mark antipodal growth zones and medial division. In turn, cellular dimensions are defined by the small GTPase Cdc42 and downstream regulators of vesicle trafficking. Yeast cells then repetitively use their simple rod shape to orchestrate the position and timing of cell division.
authors.affiliation: Department of Fundamental Microbiology, Faculty of Biology and Medicine, University of Lausanne, Biophore Building, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hachet
authors.forename: Felipe O
authors.initials: FO
authors.lastname: Bendezú
authors.forename: Sophie G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D002455:Cell Division; D016764:Cell Polarity; D048430:Cell Shape; D048429:Cell Size; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism; D008938:Mitosis; D012568:Schizosaccharomyces / Q000166:cytology* / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D020764:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein
chemical_list: D020764:cdc42 GTP-Binding Protein