UV-irradiation of stationary phase cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe leads to a 9-fold and 90-fold increase in transcript levels from the respective DNA ligase genes CDC9 and CDC17, whereas exponential cells show only 3-fold and 2-fold increases. Induction of CDC9 after MMS treatment and gamma-irradiation was also observed by using a CDC9-lacZ translational fusion and assaying for beta-galactosidase. Surprisingly, irradiation of S. cerevisiae induces only a 50% increase in DNA ligase itself, probably reflecting the extremely high in vivo stability of the enzyme. The UV-induction of ligase may be part of a "fail-safe" mechanism which, together with the enzyme stability, ensures adequate supplies of this essential enzyme.