Augmin Antagonizes Katanin at Microtubule Crossovers to Control the Dynamic Organization of Plant Cortical Arrays

Summary Plant cells do not possess centrosomes, which serve as the microtubule organizing center in animal cells; how plant cell microtubule arrays are established and maintain their dynamics remain poorly understood [1]. The γ-tubulin complex and the katanin complex play central roles in the organization of plant cortical microtubules [2–6]. Previously, we reported that the augmin complex recruits the γ-tubulin complex to preexisting microtubules and initiates microtubule nucleation [7]. Moreover, we described how an intricate interaction between the katanin p60 subunit KTN1 and the p80 subunit KTN80 confers precise microtubule severing at either microtubule branching nucleation sites or crossovers [8]. Here, we observed that augmin preferentially localizes to microtubule crossovers. Live-cell observations and analyses revealed that, whereas a small portion of crossover-localized augmin complexes act to trigger nascent microtubule nucleation, the majority function in stabilizing the architecture of microtubule crossovers. Finally, genetic analyses and computational modeling confirmed that suppression of augmin activity elevates microtubule severing frequency and facilitates the formation of aligned microtubule arrays. Combined, our findings reveal an unexpected role of augmin and demonstrate that augmin antagonizes katanin-mediated microtubule severing. Furthermore, we propose a novel mechanism for how augmin determines self-organization of plant cortical microtubules by preventing microtubule severing at crossovers in addition to triggering microtubule nucleation.