THE WEE1 PROTEIN-KINASE REGULATES T14 PHOSPHORYLATION OF FISSION YEAST CDC2

The Cdc2 protein kinase is a key regulator of the G1-S and G2-M cell cycle transitions in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The activation of Cdc2 at the G2-M transition is triggered by dephosphorylation at a conserved tyrosine residue Y15. The level of Y15 phosphorylation is controlled by the Wee1 and Mik1 protein kinases acting in opposition to the Cdc25 protein phosphatase. Here, we demonstrate that Wee1 overexpression leads to a high stoichiometry of phosphorylation at a previously undetected site in S. pombe Cdc2, T14. T14 phosphorylation was also detected in certain cell cycle mutants blocked in progression through S phase, indicating that T14 phosphorylation might normally occur at low stoichiometry during DNA replication or early G2. Strains in which the chromosomal copy of cdc2 was replaced with either a T14A or a T14S mutant allele were generated and the phenotypes of these strains are consistent with T14 phosphorylation playing an inhibitory role in the activation of Cdc2 as it does in higher eukaryotes. We have also obtained evidence that Wee1 but not Mik1 or Chk1 is required for phosphorylation at this site, that the Mik1 and Chk1 protein kinases are unable to drive T14 phosphorylation in vivo, that residue 14 phosphorylation requires previous phosphorylation at Y15, and that the T14A mutant, unlike Y15F, is recessive to wild-type Cdc2 activity. Finally, the normal duration of G2 delay after irradiation or hydroxyurea treatment in a T14A mutant strain indicates that T14 phosphorylation is not required for the DNA damage or replication checkpoint controls.