Different mechanisms of cell polarisation in vegetative and shmooing growth in fission yeast

Schizosaccharomyces pombe cells have two polarised growth modes:an intrinsic vegetative growth mode, determined by an internal positioning mechanism and an extrinsic shmooing growth mode, activated by external pheromone. We have analysed the role of the cell end marker Tea1p, the CLIP170 like protein Tip1p, the kinesin like protein Tea2p and the Dyrk-like kinase Pom1p, during the switch between the two growth patterns, with the intention of studying the switch away from the vegetative growth mode. In vegetative growth these morphological factors are concentrated at cell ends, whereas during shmooing growth they are delocalised from the cell ends. In the absence of Tea1p, Tip1p and Tea2p, vegetative cells display microtubule and cell polarisation defects, but shmooing cells are indistinguishable from wild-type and shmoo more readily. These results suggest that Tea1p, Tip1p and Tea2p are not required for polarised growth during shmooing, but form part of the intrinsic vegetative growth mode that needs to be dismantled before cells can generate an extrinsic growth patterns. In contrast, Pom1p appears to have a role in the initial stages of the switch to the shmooing growth mode.