Frog-killing chytrid fungus deploys different strategies to regulate intracellular pressure in developmental states that have or lack a cell wall.

ABSTRACT: Cell morphogenesis is crucial for the physiology of animals and fungi alike. While animals typically shape their cells using the actin cytoskeleton, fungi control cell shape through polarized deposition of new cell-wall material, which is inflated by intracellular osmotic "turgor" pressure. Understanding where and when these mechanisms evolved is essential for understanding cell morphogenesis evolution. To this end, we study chytrid fungi, which have a cell type that lacks a cell wall (the "zoospore") and a cell type that has a cell wall (the "sporangium"). While chytrid sporangia rely on polarized cell-wall growth to control shape, we previously showed that the "frog-killing" chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis uses actin to control zoospore shape. Whether either zoospores or sp

SUBMITTER: Prostak SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12818911 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature