Glucans, walls, and morphogenesis: On the contributions of J. G. H. Wessels to the golden decades of fungal physiology and beyond

Abstract

This is a collection of impressions on the career of J. G. H. Wessels and his work in the areas of cell wall metabolism and apical morphogenesis. It highlights the finding of massive cell wall glucan metabolism during differentiation, the discovery of covalent linkages between wall polymers, the changes in chemical and physical properties of the wall at the fungal apex, and the steady-state model for tip growth. A tandem VSC-SS model for hyphal morphogenesis is proposed that combines the spatial control of wall synthesis provided by the vesicle supply center model with the temporal regulation intrinsic in Wessels's steady-state model.