Aurora kinases are key regulators of mitosis. Multicellular eukaryotes generally possess two functionally diverged types of Aurora kinases. In plants, including Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), these are termed α- and β-Auroras. As the functional specification of Aurora kinases is determined by their specific interaction partners, we initiated interactomics analyses using both Arabidopsis α-Aurora kinases (AUR1 and AUR2). Proteomics results revealed that TPX2-LIKE PROTEINS2 and 3 (TPXL2/3) prominently associated with α-Auroras, as did the conserved TPX2 to a lower degree. Like TPX2, TPXL2 and TPXL3 strongly activated the AUR1 kinase but exhibited cell-cycle-dependent localization differences on microtubule arrays. The separate functions of TPX2 and TPXL2/3 were also suggested by their different influences on AUR1 localization upon ectopic expressions. Furthermore, genetic analyses showed that TPXL3, but not TPX2 and TPXL2, acts nonredundantly to enable proper embryo development. In contrast to vertebrates, plants have an expanded TPX2 family and these family members have both redundant and unique functions. Moreover, as neither TPXL2 nor TPXL3 contains the C-terminal Kinesin-5 binding domain present in the canonical TPX2, the targeting and activity of this kinesin must be organized differently in plants.

Department of Plant Biology College of Biological Sciences University of California Davis California 95616

Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics Ghent University 9052 Ghent Belgium

Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research 06466 Stadt Seeland Germany

Ministry of Education Key Laboratory for Bio Resource and Eco Environment College of Life Sciences Sichuan University Chengdu Sichuan 610064 China

The Czech Academy of Sciences Institute of Experimental Botany Centre of the Region Hana for Biotechnological and Agricultural Research Šlechtitelů 31 CZ 78371 Olomouc Czech Republic

VIB UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology 9052 Ghent Belgium

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