An Essential Function of Yeast Cyclin-dependent Kinase Cdc28 Maintains Chromosome Stability

Multiple surveillance pathways maintain genomic integrity in yeast during mitosis. Although the cyclin-dependent kinase Cdc28 is a well established regulator of mitotic progression, evidence for a direct role in mitotic surveillance has been lacking. We have now implicated a conserved sequence in the Cdc28 carboxyl terminus in maintaining chromosome stability through mitosis. Six temperature-sensitive mutants were isolated via random mutagenesis of 13 carboxyl-terminal residues. These mutants identify a Cdc28 domain necessary for proper mitotic arrest in the face of kinetochore defects or microtubule inhibitors. These chromosome stability-defective cdc28 CST mutants inappropriately continue mitosis when the mitotic spindle is disrupted at 23 °C, display high rates of spontaneous chromosome loss at 30 °C, and suffer catastrophic aneuploidy at 35 °C. A dosage suppression screen identified Cak1, a kinase known to phosphorylate and activate Cdc28, as a specific high copy suppressor of cdc28 CST temperature sensitivity and chromosome instability. Suppression is independent of the kinase activity of Cak1, suggesting that Cak1 may bind to the carboxyl terminus to serve a non-catalytic role in assembly and/or stabilization of active Cdc28 complexes. Significantly, these studies implicate Cdc28 and Cak1 in an essential surveillance function required to maintain genetic stability through mitosis.