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Updated: May 27, 2026

Using Microfluidics and Fluorescence Microscopy to Study the Assembly Dynamics of Single Actin Filaments and Bundles
Published on: May 5, 2022
Actin organization and dynamics in filamentous fungi
Adokiye Berepiki1, Alexander Lichius, Nick D Read
1Fungal Cell Biology Group, Institute of Cell Biology, Rutherford Building, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Abstract:
Growth and morphogenesis of filamentous fungi is underpinned by dynamic reorganization and polarization of the actin cytoskeleton. Actin has crucial roles in exocytosis, endocytosis, organelle movement and cytokinesis in fungi, and these processes are coupled to the production of distinct higher-order structures (actin patches, cables and rings) that generate forces or serve as tracks for intracellular transport. New approaches for imaging actin in living cells are revealing important similarities and differences in actin architecture and organization within the fungal kingdom, and have yielded key insights into cell polarity, tip growth and long-distance intracellular transport. In this Review, we discuss the contribution that recent live-cell imaging and mutational studies have made to our understanding of the dynamics and regulation of actin in filamentous fungi.
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