The Golgi apparatus: insights from filamentous fungi

Cargo passage through the Golgi, albeit an undoubtedly essential cellular function, is a mechanistically unresolved and much debated process. Although the main molecular players are conserved, diversification of the Golgi among different eukaryotic lineages is providing us with tools to resolve standing controversies. During the past decade the Golgi apparatus of model filamentous fungi, mainly Aspergillus nidulans, has been intensively studied. Here an overview of the most important findings in the field is provided. Golgi architecture and dynamics, as well as the novel cell biology tools that were developed in filamentous fungi in these studies, are addressed. An emphasis is placed on the central role the Golgi has as a crossroads in the endocytic and secretory-traffic pathways in hyphae. Finally the major advances that the A. nidulans Golgi biology has yielded so far regarding our understanding of key Golgi regulators, such as the Rab GTPases RabC(Rab6) and RabE(Rab11), the oligomeric transport protein particle, TRAPPII, and the Golgi guanine nucleotide exchange factors of Arf1, GeaA(GBF1/Gea1) and HypB(BIG/Sec7), are highlighted.