Together we are strong - cell wall integrity sensors in yeasts

The integrity of the fungal cell wall is ensured by a signal transduction pathway, the so-called CWI pathway, which has best been studied in the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In this context, environmental stress and other perturbations at the cell surface are detected by a small set of plasma membrane-spanning sensors, viz. Wsc1, Wsc2, Wsc3, Mid2 and Mtl1. This review covers the recent advances in sensor structure, sensor mechanics, their cellular distribution and their in vivo functions, obtained from genetic, biochemical, cell biological and biophysical investigations. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.