Septum position is marked at the tip of Aspergillus nidulans hyphae

Aspergillus nidulans hyphae have long tip cells that are separated from short basal cells by septa. Basal cells average 40 microm long with three or four nuclei. Septation follows parasynchronous mitoses in the tip cell and seems to occur at premarked sites, but how these sites are established is unclear. A. nidulans strains with the hypA1 mutation are wildtype at 28 degrees C but if shifted to 42 degrees C, their tip cells insert septa with a wildtype spacing, apparently triggered by an aberrant mitosis. Tip cell septa are trilamellar, like wildtype, but lack a central pore. Like wildtype, tip cell septation requires a minimum cell size and is inhibited by actin and microtubule poisons. In a hypA1 background, tip cell septation is blocked by nim (never in mitosis) mutants, but not by bim (blocked in mitosis) mutants. Future septation sites appear to be established during tip growth, before their activation in basal regions.