Cand1 inhibits cullin RING ubiquitin ligases by binding unneddylated cullins. The Cand1 N-terminus blocks the cullin neddylation site, whereas the C-terminus inhibits cullin adaptor interaction. These Cand1 binding sites can be separated into two functional polypeptides which bind sequentially. C-terminal Cand1 can directly bind to unneddylated cullins in the nucleus without blocking the neddylation site. The smaller N-terminal Cand1 cannot bind to the cullin neddylation region without C-terminal Cand1. The separation of a single cand1 into two independent genes represents the in vivo situation of the fungus Aspergillus nidulans, where C-terminal Cand1 recruits smaller N-terminal Cand1 in the cytoplasm. Either deletion results in an identical developmental and secondary metabolism phenotype in fungi, which resembles csn mutants deficient in the COP9 signalosome (CSN) deneddylase. We propose a two-step Cand1 binding to unneddylated cullins which initiates at the adaptor binding site and subsequently blocks the neddylation site after CSN has left.