Regulation of secondary metabolism by calmodulin signaling in filamentous fungi

Calmodulin (CaM) is a ubiquitous Ca2+-binding receptor that modulates diverse target proteins and biological processes in all eukaryotes.1,6,7 CaM-binding proteins have been extensively studied in yeasts, plants and animals, but little is known regarding CaM target proteins in the filamentous fungi.1,6,7 Recently, our studies have shown that CaM plays an important role in the secondary metabolism of Beauveria bassiana (a filamentous fungus) through the regulation of BbKIVR and BbPAL.3,4 In this way, the isolation and characterization of CaM-binding proteins involved in the fungal secondary metabolism will provide novel aspects of the CaM-mediated signaling pathway unique to filamentous fungi.