The Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitotic exit network (MEN) is a conserved set of genes that mediate the transition from mitosis to G 1 by regulating mitotic cyclin degradation and the inactivation of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK). Here, we demonstrate that, in addition to mitotic exit, S. cerevisiae MEN gene MOB1 is required for cytokinesis and cell separation. The cytokinesis defect was evident in mob1 mutants under conditions in which there was no mitotic-exit defect. Observation of live cells showed that yeast myosin II, Myo1p, was present in the contractile ring at the bud neck but that the ring failed to contract and disassemble. The cytokinesis defect persisted for several mitotic cycles, resulting in chains of cells with correctly segregated nuclei but with uncontracted actomyosin rings. The cytokinesis proteins Cdc3p (a septin), actin, and Iqg1p/ Cyk1p (an IQGAP-like protein) appeared to correctly localize in mob1 mutants, suggesting that MOB1 functions subsequent to actomyosin ring assembly. We also examined the subcellular distribution of Mob1p during the cell cycle and found that Mob1p first localized to the spindle pole bodies during mid-anaphase and then localized to a ring at the bud neck just before and during cytokinesis. Localization of Mob1p to the bud neck required CDC3, MEN genes CDC5, CDC14, CDC15, and DBF2, and spindle pole body gene NUD1 but was independent of MYO1. The localization of Mob1p to both spindle poles was abolished in cdc15 and nud1 mutants and was perturbed in cdc5 and cdc14 mutants. These results suggest that the MEN functions during the mitosis-to-G 1 transition to control cyclin-CDK inactivation and cytokinesis.During the transition from mitosis to G 1 , cytokinesis, disassembly of the mitotic spindle, chromatin decondensation, and DNA licensing must be precisely coordinated to ensure the genomic stability and viability of the cellular progeny (22,29,31,53,67). A major signal that controls these events is the degradation of mitotic cyclins and the inactivation of cyclindependent kinase (CDK) in late mitosis (52, 68). In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, mitotic cyclin degradation and CDK inactivation are regulated by a group of genes that constitute the mitotic exit network (MEN) (45,47). MEN genes encode four protein kinases (Cdc5p, Cdc15p, Dbf2p, and Dbf20p), Cdc14p phosphatase, a GTP binding protein (Tem1p), a GTP exchange factor (Lte1p), and Mob1p, which binds Dbf2p and Dbf20p (35,36,44,57,58,73,75). At the restrictive temperature, conditional alleles of the MEN genes cause cells to arrest in late mitosis with high levels of mitotic cyclin (33,48,58,66,69). The mitotic arrest of several MEN mutants can be suppressed by overexpression of CDK inhibitor SIC1 (18, 33), indicating that CDK inactivation is the major function of the MEN pathway. Indeed, a pivotal step in cyclin and CDK inactivation is mediated by the Cdc14p phosphatase, which is sequestered in the nucleolus during most of the cell cycle until it is released at the end of mitosis (3,60,72). Release of Cdc14p from the nuc...