The spindle pole body (SPB) represents the microtubule organizing center in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It is a highly structured organelle embedded in the nuclear membrane, which is required to anchor microtubules on both sides of the nuclear envelope. The protein Spc72, a component of the SPB, is located at the cytoplasmic face of this organelle and serves as a receptor for the ␥-tubulin complex. In this paper we show that it is also a binding partner of the nuclear export receptor Xpo1/Crm1. Xpo1 binds its cargoes in a Ran-dependent fashion via a short leucine-rich nuclear export signal (NES). We show that binding of Spc72 to Xpo1 depends on Ran-GTP and a functional NES in Spc72. Mutations in this NES have severe consequences for mitotic spindle morphology in vivo. This is also the case for xpo1 mutants, which show a reduction in cytoplasmic microtubules. In addition, we find a subpopulation of Xpo1 localized at the SPB. Based on these data, we propose a functional link between Xpo1 and the SPB and discuss a role for this exportin in spindle biogenesis in budding yeast.In eukaryotes, the movement of proteins and RNAs between the nucleus and the cytoplasm is an essential cellular process that is mediated by soluble transport receptors (26,52). In addition, the small GTPase Ran (Gsp1 in yeast) and its cytoplasmic and nuclear effectors are needed (12). Transport receptors involved in nuclear import reactions are usually termed importins, and they recognize their cargoes via a specific amino acid motif, the nuclear localization sequence, or NLS. By analogy, nuclear export reactions are mediated by so-called exportins. Xpo1 (also known as Crm1) was one of the first nuclear export receptors to be identified (23,27,50,64) and recognizes a short leucine-rich amino acid sequence on its cargo, called a nuclear export signal, or NES. Numerous export cargoes have now been identified for the mammalian Crm1 protein, including protein kinase A inhibitor PKI, p53, and the human immunodeficiency virus protein Rev (20,25,66). In addition, Crm1 is involved in the nuclear export of several classes of RNAs such as viral pre-mRNAs, ribosomal RNAs, and snRNAs (54). In contrast, few NES-containing proteins have been identified in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Although the budding yeast Crm1 orthologue Xpo1 is involved in nuclear export of Hog1 (19), Yap1 (76), Ssb1 (62), Ace2 (36), and Prp40 (46), few of the NESs involved have been characterized at a molecular level.Recently, alongside its well-established role in nuclear export, mammalian Crm1 was shown to be involved in the control of centrosome duplication (71). Centrosomes function as microtubule (MT) organizing centers in mammalian somatic cells and direct the formation of a bipolar spindle during mitosis (reviewed in reference 6). In another study, Crm1 was found to bind to kinetochores, complex protein assemblies that are needed to establish the attachment of MTs to chromatin (4). These studies point to an unanticipated role of the exportin Crm1 in control of spin...