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Two fluorochromes, ER-TrackerTM Blue-White DPX dye and the fluorescent brefeldin A (BFA) derivative, BODIPY-BFA, label the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in hyphal tips of Pisolithus tinctorius and allow its differentiation from the tubular-vacuole system at the light microscope level in living cells. The ER-Tracker dye labels a reticulate network similar in distribution to ER as seen in electron micrographs of freeze-substituted hyphae. BODIPY-BFA stains a thicker axially aligned structure with an expanded region at the apex, which is similar to that seen when hyphae are stained with ER-Tracker dye in the presence of unconjugated BFA. This structure is considered to be ER modified by BFA, a view supported by ultrastructural observations of the effect of BFA on the fungal ER. Both fluorescent probes also stain punctate structures, which are most likely to be Golgi bodies. Neither probe labels the tubular-vacuole system.

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While it is now recognised that transport within the endomembrane system may occur via membranous tubules, spatial regulation of this process is poorly understood. We have investigated the role of the cytoskeleton in regulating the motility and morphology of the motile vacuole system in hyphae of the fungus Pisolithus tinctorius by studying (1) the effects of anti-microtubule (oryzalin, nocodazole) and anti-actin drugs (cytochalasins, latrunculin) on vacuolar activity, monitored by fluorescence microscopy of living cells; and (2) the ultrastructural relationship of microtubules, actin microfilaments, and vacuoles in hyphae prepared by rapid-freezing and freeze-substitution. Anti-microtubule drugs reduced the tubular component of the vacuole system in a dose-dependent and reversible manner, the extent of which correlated strongly with the degree of disruption of the microtubule network (monitored by immunofluorescence microscopy). The highest doses of anti-microtubule drugs completely eliminated tubular vacuoles, and only spherical vacuoles were observed. In contrast, anti-actin drugs did not reduce the frequency of tubular vacuoles or the motility of these vacuoles, even though immunofluorescence microscopy confirmed perturbation of microfilament organisation. Electron microscopy showed that vacuoles were always accompanied by microtubules. Bundles of microtubules were found running in parallel along the length of tubular vacuoles and individual microtubules were often within one microtubule diameter of a vacuole membrane. Our results strongly support a role for microtubules, but not actin microfilaments, in the spatial regulation of vacuole motility and morphology in fungal hyphae.