Dephosphorylation of threonine 169 of Cdc28 is not required for exit from mitosis but may be necessary for start in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Entry into mitosis requires activation of cdc2 kinase brought on by its association with cyclin B, phosphorylation of the conserved threonine (Thr-167 in Schizosaccharomyces pombe) in the T loop, and dephosphorylation of the tyrosine residue at position 15. Exit from mitosis, on the other hand, is induced by inactivation of cdc2 activity via cyclin destruction. It has been suggested that in addition to cyclin degradation, dephosphorylation of Thr-167 may also be required for exit from the M phase. Here we show that Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells expressing cdc28-E169 (a CDC28 allele in which the equivalent threonine, Thr-169, has been replaced by glutamic acid) are able to degrade mitotic cyclin Clb2, inactivate the Cdc28/Clb2 kinase, and disassemble the anaphase spindles, suggesting that they exit mitosis normally. The cdc28-E169 allele is active with respect to its mitotic functions, since it complements the mitosis-defective cdc28-1N allele. Whereas replacement of Thr-169 with serine affects neither Start nor the mitotic activity of Cdc28, replacement with glutamic acid or alanine renders Cdc28 inactive for Start-related functions. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments show that although Cdc28-E169 associates with mitotic cyclin Clb2, it fails to associate with the G1 cyclin Cln2. Thus, an unmodified threonine at position 169 in Cdc28 is important for interaction with G1 cyclins. We propose that in S. cerevisiae, dephosphorylation of Thr-169 is not required for exit from mitosis but may be necessary for commitment to the subsequent division cycle.