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How carbohydrates sculpt cells: chemical control of morphogenesis in the yeast cell wall

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 11, pages 648–655 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

In budding yeast, the neck that connects the mother and daughter cell is the site of essential functions such as organelle trafficking, septum formation and cytokinesis. Therefore, the morphology of this region, which depends on the surrounding cell wall, must be maintained throughout the cell cycle. Growth at the neck is prevented, redundantly, by a septin ring inside the cell membrane and a chitin ring in the cell wall. Here, we describe recent work supporting the hypothesis that attachment of the chitin ring, which forms at the mother–bud neck during budding, to β-1,3-glucan in the cell wall is necessary to stop growth at the neck. Thus, in this scenario, chemistry controls morphogenesis.

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Figure 1: The yeast cell cycle and chitin.
Figure 2: Structure and synthesis of the cell wall in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Figure 3: Proposed assembly of the yeast cell wall.
Figure 4: The effect of inhibiting chitin ring formation with nikkomycin Z.
Figure 5: How chitin addition to β-1,3-glucan stops cell wall growth.
Figure 6: Control of morphogenesis at the bud neck.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank V. Cid, O. Cohen-Fix, P. Pérez, M. Reidy and C. Vázquez de Aldana for critical reading of the manuscript, and R. García for help with the figures. E.C. was supported by a US National Institutes of Health grant (as part of the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases). J.A. acknowledges all the members of his laboratory for their dedicated work, and C. Nombela and the Special Chair in Genomics and Proteomics for their support. Research in the J.A. laboratory is supported by the Spanish Government Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (grant BIO2010-22146), the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (grant GR58/08), the Comunidad de Madrid (grant S2010/BDM-2414) and the European Science Foundation (grant 06-RNP-132).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health and Human Services, Laboratory of Biochemistry and Genetics, National institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, 20892, Maryland, USA

    Enrico Cabib

  2. Departamento de Microbiología II, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Instituto Ramón y Cajal de Investigaciones Sanitarias, Madrid, 28040, Spain

    Javier Arroyo

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Correspondence to Enrico Cabib.

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Cabib, E., Arroyo, J. How carbohydrates sculpt cells: chemical control of morphogenesis in the yeast cell wall. Nat Rev Microbiol 11, 648–655 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro3090

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