γ-Tubulin plays a key role in inactivating APC/C^Cdh1 at the G₁-S boundary

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/C^CdhA 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/C^CdhA 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.