ABSTRACT
M RNA localization is a widely used mechanism for the spatial and temporal control o f gene expression. In higher eukaryotes, the mRNA-transport machinery has a complexity that renders a mechanistic understanding at the molecular level difficult. During the last 15 years, studies in fungi have proven to be attractive alternatives. They are experimentally more accessible and the organization o f their mRNA-transport particles is less complex. Here, our cur rent understanding o f mRNA transport in fungi will be summarized. The highly specific mRNA localization observed in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae will be compared with mRNA localization in the human pathogen Candida albicans and the less specific transport o f transcripts in the plant pathogen Ustilago maydis.
