spitzenkorper

GO:0031521 · Other · Subcellular region · Proposed

A structure within the hyphal tip of filamentous fungi that acts as an organizing center for hyphal growth. [GO:0031521]

Synonyms: Spitzenkörper; SPK

Part of: GO:0001411 — hyphal tip (no local record)

UniProt location names: UniProt Consortium, CC BY 4.0. Reference label and route sources.

Components

Component	Type	Part of / acts on	Grounding	Genes	Essential	Role
Spitzenkorper secretory vesicles	Other	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)		UNKNOWN	Post-Golgi secretory vesicles concentrated in distinct Spitzenkorper layers before delivery to the apical plasma membrane. `DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2958.2009.06917.x` Verdin et al. 2009 localized Neurospora crassa microvesicle and macrovesicle markers to distinct Spitzenkorper layers. `DOI:10.1038/s41467-020-16712-9` Zheng et al. 2020 followed Neurospora post-Golgi microvesicle and macrovesicle markers at the Spitzenkorper.
Spitzenkorper actin filaments	Protein	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)		UNKNOWN	Actin filaments in the Spitzenkorper core that participate in polarized vesicle organization at the hyphal apex. `DOI:10.1016/j.mib.2014.04.003` Riquelme and Sanchez-Leon 2014 reviewed the Spitzenkorper as a multicomponent structure that includes cytoskeletal elements. `DOI:10.1038/s41467-020-16712-9` Zheng et al. 2020 assayed Spitzenkorper F-actin and its scaffold-dependent organization in Neurospora crassa.
Spitzenkorper scaffold proteins	Protein	part of	Reviewed label only (reviewed name; no accession asserted)	SPA-2, JNS-1, LAH-2, SPZ-1	UNKNOWN	Protein scaffolds and adaptors that reside at the Spitzenkorper and recruit polarity effectors in Neurospora crassa. `DOI:10.1038/s41467-020-16712-9` Zheng et al. 2020 identified SPA-2/JNS-1 and LAH-2 scaffold modules transported to the Spitzenkorper by MYO-5 via SPZ-1.

Taxonomic distribution

NCBITaxon:4751 Fungi — VARIABLE: Recognizable Spitzenkorper occur in diverse hyphal fungi and organize tip growth, but they are not asserted here to be universal across all fungal lineages or growth states. [DOI:10.1128/MMBR.00068-17]

Canonical examples

NCBITaxon:5141 Neurospora crassa — Filamentous-fungal model in which SPA-2/JNS-1 and LAH-2 scaffold modules of the Spitzenkorper have been experimentally dissected. [DOI:10.1038/s41467-020-16712-9]

Functions

hyphal tip-growth organization — The Spitzenkorper acts as a vesicle supply center that organizes polarized secretion for fungal hyphal extension.
- DOI:10.1016/j.mib.2014.04.003 Riquelme and Sanchez-Leon 2014 reviewed the Spitzenkorper as a fungal hyphal growth and morphogenesis organizer.
- DOI:10.1128/MMBR.00068-17 Riquelme et al. 2018 review polarized hyphal growth and Spitzenkorper-associated vesicle traffic in fungal morphogenesis.

Mechanism graphs

Spitzenkorper vesicles support hyphal tip growth (FUNCTION)

Secretory vesicle layers and protein scaffolds localize to the Spitzenkorper, connecting the vesicle supply center to polarized fungal hyphal extension.

Subject	Predicate	Object	Evidence
Spitzenkorper secretory vesicles	accumulates in	spitzenkorper	`DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2958.2009.06917.x` Verdin et al. 2009 showed functional stratification of Neurospora Spitzenkorper vesicle populations.
Spitzenkorper scaffold proteins	localizes to	spitzenkorper	`DOI:10.1038/s41467-020-16712-9` Zheng et al. 2020 identified interacting scaffold complexes that reside at the Neurospora Spitzenkorper.
spitzenkorper	supports	polarized hyphal growth	`DOI:10.1016/j.mib.2014.04.003` Riquelme and Sanchez-Leon 2014 reviewed Spitzenkorper organization of hyphal growth and morphogenesis.

Discussions

CURATION_TODO (OPEN): Resolve exact source-neutral groundings for Spitzenkorper microvesicles, macrovesicles, actin filaments and SPA-2/JNS-1 or LAH-2 scaffold cohorts. The first Spitzenkorper record groups localized vesicle pools and Neurospora scaffold proteins by experimentally defined SPK residency rather than guessing gene-family or vesicle-class CURIEs.

Evidence

GO:0031521 Gene Ontology cellular-component term for spitzenkorper.
DOI:10.1016/j.mib.2014.04.003 Riquelme and Sanchez-Leon 2014, The Spitzenkorper: a choreographer of fungal growth and morphogenesis, Current Opinion in Microbiology.
DOI:10.1111/j.1365-2958.2009.06917.x Verdin et al. 2009, Functional stratification of the Spitzenkorper of Neurospora crassa, Molecular Microbiology.
DOI:10.1128/MMBR.00068-17 Riquelme et al. 2018, Fungal Morphogenesis, from the Polarized Growth of Hyphae to Complex Reproduction and Infection Structures, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews.
DOI:10.1038/s41467-020-16712-9 Zheng et al. 2020, Spitzenkorper assembly mechanisms reveal conserved features of fungal and metazoan polarity scaffolds, Nature Communications.

Curation history

2026-09-10T13:18:11Z claude · CREATED_RECORD — Scaffolded by scripts/new_record.py
2026-09-10T13:19:19Z claude · EXPANDED_RECORD — Added Spitzenkorper synonymy, hyphal-tip parthood, secretory-vesicle, actin-filament and scaffold components, variable fungal scope, a Neurospora crassa canonical example, a hyphal tip-growth function, record-level literature evidence, a nonmechanistic vesicle-supply graph and a grounding TODO for SPK-localized vesicle and scaffold classes.
2026-09-10T13:19:46Z claude · TIGHTENED_GRAPH — Typed the Spitzenkorper graph node as a STRUCTURE and removed an unused apical plasma membrane node from the first vesicle-supply graph.
2026-09-10T13:28:05Z claude · ADDRESS_REVIEW — Addressed PR #371 review issues #372 and #373 by removing the underspecified exocyst tethering graph edge and narrowing the Neurospora crassa canonical example to the Zheng 2020 scaffold modules.
2026-09-10T13:28:29Z claude · TIGHTENED_GRAPH — Updated the Spitzenkorper vesicle-supply graph description to match the post-review graph after removing the exocyst edge.

Source: data/structures/other/spitzenkorper.yaml