Cyclin binding Cy motifs have multiple activities in the initiation of DNA replication

Summary The initiation of DNA replication involves the cell cycle-dependent assembly and disassembly of protein complexes, including the Origin Recognition Complex (ORC) and CDC6 AAA+ ATPases. We report that multiple short, linear protein motifs (SLiMs) within intrinsically disordered regions in ORC1 and CDC6, including Cyclin-binding (Cy) motifs, mediate Cyclin-CDK dependent and independent protein-protein interactions, conditional on cell cycle phase. The ORC1 Cy motif mediates an auto-regulatory self-interaction, and the same Cy motif prevents CDC6 binding to ORC1 in mitosis, but then facilitates the destruction of ORC1 in S phase. In contrast, in G1, the CDC6 Cy motif promotes ORC1-CDC6 interaction independent of Cyclin-CDK protein phosphorylation. CDC6 interaction with ORC also requires a basic region of ORC1 that in yeast mediates ORC-DNA interactions. We also demonstrate that protein phosphatase 1 binds directly to a SLiM in ORC1, causing de-phosphorylation upon mitotic exit. Thus, Cy-motifs have wider roles, functioning as a ligand and as a degron.