Special Interest Group Meeting

The fungal cell wall

Organiser

A common and unique characteristic of all fungal cells is that they are surrounded by a cell wall. The fungal cell wall is the skeleton, armour and camouflage jacket of the fungal cell. It determines the cell shape, provides mechanical strength to oppose turgor pressure and to provide force for penetration of insoluble substrates. It protects the cell against external toxic agents including antifungals, and interacts with the host immune system. It is a major organelle requiring more than 1/3 of the genome for its construction. The cell wall is therefore essential for fungal growth and for virulence. The cell wall is also the fungus Achilles’ heel since its major components are absent from mammals and can be specifically targeted with compounds that do not affect human metabolism as seen with the recent clinical launch of echinocandins that block the synthesis of b 1,3 glucans.

In absence of any symposium focusing specifically on the cell wall at IMC9, we decided to organize this specific SIG to review our current understanding of the structural organisation of the fungal cell wall with special emphasis on the characterisation of the enzymes and reactions associated with polysaccharide biosynthesis, cross-linking and branching and the analysis of the signalling mechanisms that allows fungi to adapt to and survive conditions and treatments that damage the cell wall.

Co-chairs

JP Latgé, Paris, France and N. Gow, Aberdeen, UK

D. Perlin, Newark, USA
Glucan synthase: influencing antifungal resistance and virulence

M Lenardon, Aberdeen, UK
Phosphorylation regulates chitin synthesis in Candida albicans

T. Fontaine, Paris, France
Cell wall polysaccharide remodelling activities

C. Vasquez de Aldana, Salamanca, Spain
Glucanases, polarity and endocytosis in S. pombe

H Mora Montes, Guanajuato, Mexico
Glycobiology of Candida albicans mannans

J. Arroyo, Madrid, Spain
An important decision for the yeasts: How to deal with cell wall stress