Zhang Yu, Wang Junhui, Ma Wenjun, Lu Nan, Fu Pengyue, Yang Yingying, Zhao Linjiao, Hu Jiwen, Qu Guanzheng, Wang Nan
State Key Laboratory of Tree Genetics and Breeding, Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry and Northeast Forestry University, Beijing, China.
Hekou Yao Autonomous County Forestry and Grassland Bureau, Hekou, China.
Front Plant Sci. 2023 Jun 19;14:1167789. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1167789. eCollection 2023.
N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most abundant internal modification in eukaryotic messenger RNA, and involved in various biological processes in plants. However, the distribution features and functions of mRNA m6A methylation have been poorly explored in woody perennial plants. In this study, a new natural variety with yellow-green leaves, named Maiyuanjinqiu, was screened from the seedlings of . Based on the preliminary experiment, the m6A methylation levels in the leaves of Maiyuanjinqiu were significantly higher than those in . Furthermore, a parallel analysis of m6A-seq and RNA-seq was carried out in different leaf color sectors. The result showed that m6A modification were mostly identified around the 3'-untranslated regions (3'-UTR), which was slightly negatively correlated with the mRNA abundance. KEGG and GO analyses showed that m6A methylation genes were associated with photosynthesis, pigments biosynthesis and metabolism, oxidation-reduction and response to stress, etc. The overall increase of m6A methylation levels in yellow-green leaves might be associated with the decreased the expression of RNA demethylase gene . The silencing of caused a chlorotic phenotype and increased m6A methylation level, which further confirmed our hypothesis. Our results suggested that mRNA m6A methylation could be considered as a vital epigenomic mark and contribute to the natural variations in plants.
N6-甲基腺苷（m6A）是真核生物信使RNA中最丰富的内部修饰，参与植物的各种生物学过程。然而，在多年生木本植物中，mRNA m6A甲基化的分布特征和功能尚未得到充分研究。在本研究中，从……的幼苗中筛选出一个新的黄绿色叶片天然变种，命名为麦源金秋。基于初步实验，麦源金秋叶片中的m6A甲基化水平显著高于……中的水平。此外，在不同叶色区域进行了m6A-seq和RNA-seq的平行分析。结果表明，m6A修饰大多在3'-非翻译区（3'-UTR）周围被鉴定到，这与mRNA丰度呈轻微负相关。KEGG和GO分析表明，m6A甲基化基因与光合作用、色素生物合成与代谢、氧化还原和应激反应等有关。黄绿色叶片中m6A甲基化水平的总体升高可能与RNA去甲基化酶基因……的表达降低有关。……的沉默导致了黄化表型并提高了m6A甲基化水平，这进一步证实了我们假设。我们的结果表明，mRNA m6A甲基化可被视为一种重要的表观基因组标记，并有助于植物的自然变异。
