The cell cycle mutant, cdc9, in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is defective in DNA ligase be deficient in the repair of DNA damaged by methyl methane sulphonate. On the other hand survival of cdc9 after irradiation by gamma-rays is little different from that of the wild-type, even after a period of stress at the restrictive temperature. The mutant cdc9 is not allelic with any known rad or mms mutants.