Posttranscriptional control of growth and development in Ustilago maydis

The corn pathogen Ustilago maydis relies on defined developmental programs to regulate morphological switches during the infection process. Research on RNA-binding proteins has demonstrated the substantial contribution of posttranscriptional control in regulating growth, morphology and pathogenicity. In particular, functional analysis of the two sequence-specific RNA-binding proteins Khd4 and Rrm4 revealed the importance of regulated mRNA stability and transport, respectively. For example, in infectious filaments microtubule-dependent transport of mRNAs encoding polarity factors is key in establishing the axis of polarity. These findings probably represent only a few of the emerging discoveries related to posttranscriptional control in filamentous fungi. Research progress may also prove informative compared to similar regulatory mechanisms in operation during developmental and neuronal processes in vertebrates.