MTA1‐mediated RNA m⁶A modification regulates autophagy and is required for infection of the rice blast fungus

Abstract

In eukaryotes, N 6 -methyladenosine (m 6 A) is abundant on mRNA, and plays key roles in the regulation of RNA function. However, the roles and regulatory mechanisms of m 6 A in phytopathogenic fungi are still largely unknown.Combined with biochemical analysis, MeRIP-seq and RNA-seq methods, as well as biological analysis, we showed that Magnaporthe oryzae MTA1 gene is an orthologue of human METTL4, which is involved in m 6 A modification and plays a critical role in autophagy for fungal infection.The Dmta1 mutant showed reduced virulence due to blockage of appressorial penetration and invasive growth. Moreover, the autophagy process was severely disordered in the mutant. MeRIP-seq identified 659 hypomethylated m 6 A peaks covering 595 mRNAs in Dmta1 appressoria, 114 m 6 A peaks was negatively related to mRNA abundance, including several ATG gene transcripts. Typically, the mRNA abundance of MoATG8 was also increased in the single m 6 A site mutant Δatg8/MoATG8 A982C , leading to an autophagy disorder.Our findings reveal the functional importance of the m 6 A methylation in infection of M. oryzae and provide novel insight into the regulatory mechanisms of plant pathogenic fungi.

Two nucleotide sugar transporters are important for cell wall integrity and full virulence of Magnaporthe oryzae

“…Ten reported ROS degradation‐related genes (Guo et al, 2010; Huang et al, 2011; Ren et al, 2022; Yi et al, 2009) were picked to examine their expression among WT and deletion mutants. As expected, the relative expression levels of HYR1 , APX2 , PRX1 , CCP1 , NMO1 , and LHS1 in Δ nst1 Δ nst2 were less than half of that in the WT.…”

Transcriptomic and Metabolomic Profiles Provide Insights into the Red-Stipe Symptom of Morel Fruiting Bodies

“…Autophagy is an essential and conserved self-eating process that cells perform to allow the degradation of intracellular components [ 67 ]. Autophagy has been observed during the development, secondary metabolism, and infection of fungi [ 68 , 69 , 70 ]. Based on our RNA-seq results ( Supplementary Table S3 ), 27 DEGs were enriched in autophagy-related KEGG pathways (map04136 and map04138).…”

N6‐methyladenosine RNA modification regulates cotton drought response in a Ca2+ and ABA‐dependent manner

“…Dot blot assay was performed as described previously with minor modifications (Ren et al ., 2022). Total RNA from the WT and the alkbh10b mutant were extracted and heated at 95 °C for 5 min to remove the secondary structure and then was chilled on ice.…”