Summary Dynamic chemical modifications in eukaryotic messenger RNAs (mRNAs) constitute an essential layer of gene regulation, among which N6‐methyladenosine (m6A) was unveiled to be the most abundant. m6A functionally modulates important biological processes in various mammals and plants through the regulation of mRNA metabolism, mainly mRNA degradation and translation efficiency. Physiological functions of m6A methylation are diversified and affected by intricate sequence contexts and m6A machineries. A number of studies have dissected the functional roles and the underlying mechanisms of m6A modifications in regulating plant development and stress responses. Recently, it was demonstrated that the human FTO‐mediated plant m6A removal caused dramatic yield increases in rice and potato, indicating that modulation of m6A methylation could be an efficient strategy for crop improvement. In this review, we summarize the current progress concerning the m6A‐mediated regulation of crop development and stress responses, and provide an outlook on the potential application of m6A epitranscriptome in the future improvement of crops.

SummaryFruit ripening and disease resistance are two essential biological processes for quality formation and maintenance. DNA methylation, in the form of 5‐methylcytosine (5mC), has been elucidated to modulate fruit ripening, but its role in regulating fruit disease resistance remains poorly understood. In this study, we show that mutation of SlDML2, the DNA demethylase gene essential for fruit ripening, affects multiple developmental processes of tomato besides fruit ripening, including seed germination, leaf length and width and flower branching. Intriguingly, loss of SlDML2 function decreased the resistance of tomato fruits against the necrotrophic fungal pathogen Botrytis cinerea. Comparative transcriptomic analysis revealed an obvious transcriptome reprogramming caused by SlDML2 mutation during B. cinerea invasion. Among the thousands of differentially expressed genes, SlβCA3 encoding a β‐carbonic anhydrase and SlFAD3 encoding a ω‐3 fatty acid desaturase were demonstrated to be transcriptionally activated by SlDML2‐mediated DNA demethylation and positively regulate tomato resistance to B. cinerea probably in the same genetic pathway with SlDML2. We further show that the pericarp tissue surrounding B. cinerea infection exhibited a delay in ripening with singnificant decrease in expression of ripening genes that are targeted by SlDML2 and increase in expression of SlβCA3 and SlFAD3. Taken together, our results uncover an essential layer of gene regulation mediated by DNA methylation upon B. cinerea infection and raise the possible that the DNA demethylase gene SlDML2, as a multifunctional gene, participates in modulating the trade‐off between fruit ripening and disease resistance.