PxdA interacts with the DipA phosphatase to regulate endosomal hitchhiking of peroxisomes.

In canonical microtubule-based transport, adaptor proteins link cargos to dynein and kinesin motors. Recently, an alternative mode of transport known as 'hitchhiking' was discovered, where cargos achieve motility by hitching a ride on already-motile cargos, rather than attaching to a motor protein. Hitchhiking has been best-studied in two filamentous fungi, Aspergillus nidulans and Ustilago maydis. In U. maydis, ribonucleoprotein complexes, peroxisomes, lipid droplets, and endoplasmic reticulum hitchhike on early endosomes. In A. nidulans, peroxisomes hitchhike using a putative molecular linker, PxdA, which associates with early endosomes. However, whether other organelles use PxdA to hitchhike on early endosomes is unclear, as are the molecular mechanisms that regulate hitchhiking. Here we find that the proper distribution of lipid droplets, mitochondria and pre-autophagosomes do not require PxdA, suggesting that PxdA is a peroxisome-specific molecular linker. We identify two new pxdA alleles, including a point mutation (R2044P) that disrupts PxdA's ability to associate with early endosomes and reduces peroxisome movement. We also identify a novel regulator of peroxisome hitchhiking, the phosphatase DipA. DipA co-localizes with early endosomes and its early endosome-association relies on PxdA. Together, our data suggest that PxdA and the DipA phosphatase are specific regulators of peroxisome hitchhiking on early endosomes. [Media: see text] [Media: see text] [Media: see text] [Media: see text] [Media: see text] [Media: see text] [Media: see text] [Media: see text] [Media: see text] [Media: see text].