This review summarizes the present knowledge on  the acetate utilization in filamentous fungi, mainly Phycomyces blakesleeanus, Aspergillus nidulans and Neurospora crassa. It becomes evident that, although the different steps of the fundamental pathways of acetate metabolism follow the same theme in many microorganisms, some genetic and biochemical peculiarities exist in filamentous fungi. Some items we will try in this review are: a) the uptake and subsequent activation of acetate to acetyl-CoA, including the description of characterized specific transport mechanism for acetate and other monocarboxylates existent in the plasma membrane of these organisms and the characteristics of the different forms of acetyl-CoA synthetases; b) the function of other enzymes involved in acetate utilization, such as the enzymes of the glyoxylate bypass (isocitrate lyase and malate synthase) and those of the gluconeogenesis; c) the regulation of the isocitrate branch point, including the description of isocitrate lyase and NAD⁺-isocitrate dehydrogenase. We also mention the mutants unable to grow on acetate (ace^-), which have been characterized in this group of fungi.