The change in form (cell shape and size) that occurs during sexual reproduction in order to facilitate direct contact between the compatible mating types in organisms that undergo conjugation cellular fusion.

The formation of a spore-bearing structure by fungus where spores will arise from asexual reproduction.

A process that is carried out at the cellular level which results in the assembly, arrangement of constituent parts, or disassembly of a vacuole.

The physiological and developmental changes that occur in a spore following release from dormancy up to the earliest signs of growth (e.g. emergence from a spore wall).

A conjugation process that results in the union of cellular and genetic information from compatible mating types. An example of this process is found in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The process of physically separating the septal cell wall material by enzymatic digestion, that occurs after daughter cells are separated by cytokinesis.

A form of asexual reproduction, occurring in certain bacteria and fungi (e.g. yeasts) and some primitive animals in which an individual arises from a daughter cell formed by pinching off a part of the parent cell. The budlike outgrowths so formed may sometimes remain attached to the parent cell.

The set of specific processes that generate the ability of an organism to induce an abnormal, generally detrimental state in another organism.

The process in which a multicellular organism, a unicellular organism or a group of unicellular organisms grow in a threadlike, filamentous shape.

Growth of fungi as threadlike, tubular structures that may contain multiple nuclei and may or may not be divided internally by septa, or cross-walls.

A series of molecular signals within the cell that are mediated by the Cdc42 protein switching to a GTP-bound active state.

Any cellular process that results in the specification, formation or maintenance of a polarized intracellular organization or cell growth patterns that regulate the shape of a cell.

Any process that modulates the frequency, rate or extent of establishment or maintenance of cell polarity regulating cell shape.

The portion of the budding yeast plasma membrane where a daughter cell will emerge. The yeast marks this spot with bud-site selection proteins before bud emergence occurs. Actin is polarized to this spot just prior to and during bud emergence.

A semiautonomous, self replicating organelle that occurs in varying numbers, shapes, and sizes in the cytoplasm of virtually all eukaryotic cells. It is notably the site of tissue respiration.

The end of a cellular bud distal to the site of attachment to the mother cell.

The constriction between the mother cell and daughter cell (bud) in an organism that reproduces by budding.

Any part of a cell where non-isotropic growth takes place.

The apex of the mating projection in unicellular fungi exposed to mating pheromone; site of polarized growth.

Protein complex that has a role in determining cell polarity, found at the tip of a growing fungal hypha.

A membrane-bounded organelle of eukaryotic cells in which chromosomes are housed and replicated. In most cells, the nucleus contains all of the cell's chromosomes except the organellar chromosomes, and is the site of RNA synthesis and processing. In some species, or in specialized cell types, RNA metabolism or DNA replication may be absent.

The part of the cytoplasm that does not contain organelles but which does contain other particulate matter, such as protein complexes.

The portion of the plasma membrane surrounding the cell tip.

The eventual plane of cell division (also known as cell cleavage or cytokinesis) in a dividing cell. In Eukaryotes, the cleavage apparatus, composed of septin structures and the actomyosin contractile ring, forms along this plane, and the mitotic, or meiotic, spindle is aligned perpendicular to the division plane. In bacteria, the cell division site is generally located at mid-cell and is the site at which the cytoskeletal structure, the Z-ring, assembles.

The apex of the mating projection in unicellular fungi exposed to mating pheromone; site of polarized growth.

The region at the end of the longest axis of a cylindrical or elongated cell.

A protein complex formed by the association of the small GTPase Cdc42 with additional proteins. In Schizosaccharomyces the complex contains the Cdc42, Ras1, Scd1, Scd2, andShk1 proteins, and functions in the Ras1-Scd GTPase signalling pathway.

A region of the cell cortex that contains a higher concentration of growth polarity factors than the surrounding cortex and that changes position over time. An example is found in fission yeast cells during early mating, in which the GTPase Cdc42 dynamically to discrete zones within the cortex prior to shmoo formation.