Calcineurin controls the cytokinesis machinery during thermal stress in

Calcineurin is a highly conserved phosphatase that plays a central role in sensing calcium and governing transcriptional, post-transcriptional, and post-translational signaling networks. Calcineurin is a heterodimer consisting of a catalytic A subunit and a regulatory B subunit. Through downstream effectors, calcineurin signaling drives myriad responses in different organisms. In the fungal pathogenic Significance Statement: Cellular responses to external stress conditions involve activation of signaling cascades, which act via effectors to govern key cellular processes. One such signaling cascade involves the phosphatase calcineurin, the conserved target of cyclosporin A and FK506 that governs myriad cellular functions through its substrates. In human fungal pathogens, calcineurin is critical for pathogenicity. Here, we employed a genetic screen to map the functional interactions of this signaling cascade and repeatedly identified mutations in components of a single protein complex, suggesting a focused downstream response. With genetic and biochemical approaches, we established that these proteins play a crucial role in cell division at high temperature enabling cell division and revealing new avenues of research that could identify potential antifungal drug targets.