The Schizosaccharomyces pombe gpil+ gene was cloned by complementation of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae gpil mutant, which has temperature-sensitive defects in growth and glycosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI) membrane anchoring or protein, and which is defective in vitro in the first step in GPI anchor assembly, the formation of n-acetylglucosaminyl phosphatidylinositol (GlcNAc-PI). S. pombe gpil+ encodes a protein with 29% identity to amino acids 87-609 of the S. cerevisiae protein, and is the functional homolog of the S. cerevisiae Gpil protein, for it restores [3H]inositol-labelling of protein and in vitro GlcNAc-PI synthetic activity to both S. cerevisiae gpil and gpil::URA3 cells. Disruption of gpil+ is lethal. Haploid delta gpil+::his7+ spores germinate, but proceed through no more than three rounds of cell division, many cells ceasing growth as binucleate, septate cells with thickened septa. These results indicate that GPI synthesis is an essential function in fission yeast, and suggest that GPI anchoring is also required for completion of cytokinesis.