Cell cycle checkpoints enhance genetic fidelity by causing arrest at specific stages of the cell cycle when previous events have not been completed. The tumor suppressor p53 has been implicated in a G(1) checkpoint. To investigate whether p53 also participates in a mitotic checkpoint, cultured fibroblasts from p53-deficient mouse embryos were exposed to spindle inhibitors. The fibroblasts underwent multiple rounds of DNA synthesis without completing chromosome segregation, thus forming tetraploid acid octaploid cells. Deficiency of p53 was also associated with the development of tetraploidy in vivo. These results suggest that murine p53 is a component of a spindle checkpoint that ensures the maintenance of diploidy.