γ-Tubulin plays a key role in inactivating APC/CCdh1 at the G1–S boundary

Abstract

A γ-tubulin mutation in Aspergillus nidulans, mipA-D159, causes failure of inactivation of the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C) in interphase, resulting in failure of cyclin B (CB) accumulation and removal of nuclei from the cell cycle. We have investigated the role of CdhA, the A. nidulans homologue of the APC/C activator protein Cdh1, in γ-tubulin–dependent inactivation of the APC/C. CdhA was not essential, but it targeted CB for destruction in G1, and APC/CCdhA had to be inactivated for the G1–S transition. mipA-D159 altered the localization pattern of CdhA, and deletion of the gene encoding CdhA allowed CB to accumulate in all nuclei in strains carrying mipA-D159. These data indicate that mipA-D159 causes a failure of inactivation of APC/CCdhA at G1–S, perhaps by altering its localization to the spindle pole body, and, thus, that γ-tubulin plays an important role in inactivating APC/CCdhA at this point in the cell cycle.