In budding yeast, the monopolin complex mediates sister kinetochore cross-linking and co-orientation in meiosis I. The CK1δ kinase Hrr25 is critical for sister kinetochore co-orientation, but its roles are not well understood. Here, we present the structures of Hrr25 and its complex with the monopolin subunit Mam1. Hrr25 possesses a "central domain" that packs tightly against the kinase C-lobe, adjacent to the binding site for Mam1. Together, the Hrr25 central domain and Mam1 form a novel, contiguous embellishment to the Hrr25 kinase domain that affects Hrr25 conformational dynamics and enzyme kinetics. Mam1 binds a hydrophobic surface on the Hrr25 N-lobe that is conserved in CK1δ-family kinases, suggesting a role for this surface in recruitment and/or regulation of these enzymes throughout eukaryotes. Finally, using purified proteins, we find that Hrr25 phosphorylates the kinetochore receptor for monopolin, Dsn1. Together with our new structural insights into the fully assembled monopolin complex, this finding suggests that tightly localized Hrr25 activity modulates monopolin complex-kinetochore interactions through phosphorylation of both kinetochore and monopolin complex components.

The AAA+ family ATPase TRIP13 is a key regulator of meiotic recombination and the spindle assembly checkpoint, acting on signaling proteins of the conserved HORMA domain family. Here we present the structure of the Caenorhabditis elegans TRIP13 ortholog PCH-2, revealing a new family of AAA+ ATPase protein remodelers. PCH-2 possesses a substrate-recognition domain related to those of the protein remodelers NSF and p97, while its overall hexameric architecture and likely structural mechanism bear close similarities to the bacterial protein unfoldase ClpX. We find that TRIP13, aided by the adapter protein p31(comet), converts the HORMA-family spindle checkpoint protein MAD2 from a signaling-active 'closed' conformer to an inactive 'open' conformer. We propose that TRIP13 and p31(comet) collaborate to inactivate the spindle assembly checkpoint through MAD2 conformational conversion and disassembly of mitotic checkpoint complexes. A parallel HORMA protein disassembly activity likely underlies TRIP13's critical regulatory functions in meiotic chromosome structure and recombination.

Proteins of the HORMA domain family play central, but poorly understood, roles in chromosome organization and dynamics during meiosis. In Caenorhabditis elegans, four such proteins (HIM-3, HTP-1, HTP-2, and HTP-3) have distinct but overlapping functions. Through combined biochemical, structural, and in vivo analysis, we find that these proteins form hierarchical complexes through binding of their HORMA domains to cognate peptides within their partners' C-terminal tails, analogous to the "safety belt" binding mechanism of Mad2. These interactions are critical for recruitment of HIM-3, HTP-1, and HTP-2 to chromosome axes. HTP-3, in addition to recruiting the other HORMA domain proteins to the axis, plays an independent role in sister chromatid cohesion and double-strand break formation. Finally, we find that mammalian HORMAD1 binds a motif found both at its own C terminus and at that of HORMAD2, indicating that this mode of intermolecular association is a conserved feature of meiotic chromosome structure in eukaryotes.