The role of the augmin complex in establishing microtubule arrays

Abstract

Microtubule-dependent microtubule nucleation occurs on the lateral surface of pre-existing microtubules and provides a highly efficient means of amplifying their populations and reorganizing their architectures. The γ‑tubulin ring complex serves as the template to initiate nascent microtubule polymerization. Augmin, a hetero-octameric protein complex, acts as a recruiting factor to target the γ‑tubulin ring complex to pre-existing microtubules and trigger new microtubule growth. Although microtubule-dependent microtubule nucleation has been extensively studied in both animal and plant cells, it remains unclear how the augmin complex assembles in plant cells, especially in cell-cycle-specific and cell-type-specific manners, and how its spatial structure orchestrates the nucleation geometry. In this review, we summarize the advances in knowledge of augmin-dependent microtubule nucleation and the regulation of its geometry, and highlight recent findings and emerging questions concerning the role of the augmin complex in establishing microtubule arrays and the cell-cycle-specific composition of augmin in plant cells.

Keywords: Augmin complexes; katanin; microtubule nucleation; plant microtubules; γ-tubulin ring complexes.