Problem of interactions between intracellular structures during the Neurospora crassa tip growth

44 Determination of consistent patterns of interaction between intracellular structures in functionally active living systems is a topical problem of modern biology. In the light of ideas of Academician A.M. Ugolev on natural technologies of biological systems [1], to solve this problem, it is necessary to describe (1) the struc tures that ensure the process, (2) regulatory system that realizes control and regulation, (3) energy supply of the process, and (4) its final effect (product). An interesting experimental model for such a study may be the tip growth of Neurospora crassa—a typical sys temic function combining concordant cell–cell inter actions and interactions between different intracellu lar structure [2–5]. During tip growth, the anterior end of hypha elongates at a rate of 20–30 μm/min and periodically branches; as a result, the ratio of the total length of all branches to the number of growing tips— the hyphal growth unit (HGU, [2])—is maintained constant.