title: Altered expression of Aurora kinases in Arabidopsis results in aneu- and polyploidization.
abstract: Aurora is an evolutionary conserved protein kinase family involved in monitoring of chromosome segregation via phosphorylation of different substrates. In plants, however, the involvement of Aurora proteins in meiosis and in sensing microtubule attachment remains to be proven, although the downstream components leading to the targeting of spindle assembly checkpoint signals to anaphase-promoting complex have been described. To analyze the three members of Aurora family (AtAurora1, -2, and -3) of Arabidopsis we employed different combinations of T-DNA insertion mutants and/or RNAi transformants. Meiotic defects and the formation of unreduced pollen were revealed including plants with an increased ploidy level. The effect of reduced expression of Aurora was mimicked by application of the ATP-competitive Aurora inhibitor II. In addition, strong overexpression of any member of the AtAurora family is not possible. Only tagged or truncated forms of Aurora kinases can be overexpressed. Expression of truncated AtAurora1 resulted in a high number of aneuploids in Arabidopsis, while expression of AtAurora1-TAPi construct in tobacco resulted in 4C (possible tetraploid) progeny. In conclusion, our data demonstrate an essential role of Aurora kinases in the monitoring of meiosis in plants.
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Corrensstraße 3, 06466, Gatersleben, Germany.
authors.forename: Dmitri
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Demidov
authors.forename: Inna
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lermontova
authors.forename: Oda
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Joerg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.forename: Twan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rutten
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kumke
authors.forename: Timothy F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Sharbel
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Van Damme
authors.forename: Nico
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: De Storme
authors.forename: Danny
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Geelen
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Houben
mesh_terms: D017360:Arabidopsis / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D064127:Aurora Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D020090:Chromosome Segregation; D035264:Flowers / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D018506:Gene Expression Regulation, Plant; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D008540:Meiosis; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism; D008938:Mitosis; D005810:Multigene Family; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D010641:Phenotype; D010766:Phosphorylation; D030821:Plants, Genetically Modified; D011123:Polyploidy; D036226:Seedlings / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics; D012639:Seeds / Q000166:cytology / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D029681:Arabidopsis Proteins; D064127:Aurora Kinases
keywords: Arabidopsis thaliana; Aurora kinase; aneuploidization; chromosome segregation; meiotic defects; polyploidization; spindle assembly checkpoint