Cds1 phosphorylation by Rad3-Rad26 kinase is mediated by forkhead-associated domain interaction with Mrc1

The protein kinase Cds1 is an effector of the replication checkpoint in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Cds1 is required to stabilize stalled replication forks, and it helps to prevent the onset of mitosis until the genome is fully replicated. Mrc1 (mediator of the replication checkpoint-1) and Rad3-Rad26 kinase are required for Cds1 activation, but exactly how Mrc1 mediates Cds1 activation is unknown. Here we show that Mrc1 is required for the initial threonine 11 phosphorylation of Cds1 by Rad3-Rad26. Mrc1 specifically interacts with the forkhead-associated (FHA) domain of Cds1 in yeast two-hybrid assays. Mutations in the FHA domain that abolish this interaction also eliminate Thr-11 phosphorylation of Cds1. Weak Thr-11 phosphorylation of a kinase-dead mutant of Cds1 is rescued by co-expression of wild type Cds1. The requirement for Mrc1 in the replication checkpoint can be partially eliminated by expression of a Rad26-Cds1 fusion protein. These findings suggest that recognition of Mrc1 by the FHA domain of Cds1 serves to recruit Cds1 to Rad3-Rad26. This interaction mediates the initial Thr-11 phosphorylation of Cds1 by Rad3-Rad26 with subsequent intermolecular phosphorylation events leading to full activation of Cds1.