Conditional Aurora A deficiency differentially affects early mouse embryo patterning

► We ablate Aurora A in the epiblast or visceral endoderm of mouse embryos. ► Aurora A ablation leads to apoptosis, patterning defects and embryo lethality. ► ES cells can rescue the phenotype of Aurora A deficiency in the epiblast. ► Embryonic defects vary depending on the tissue affected by the mutation. ► We provide an alternative to tetraploid complementation experiments.