Transcriptome-Wide N6-Methyladenosine (m6A) Profiling of Susceptible and Resistant Wheat Varieties Reveals the Involvement of Variety-Specific m6A Modification Involved in Virus-Host Interaction Pathways

Abstract

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) methylation is the most prevalent internal modification of post-transcriptional modifications in mRNA, tRNA, miRNA, and long non-coding RNA in eukaryotes. m6A methylation has been proven to be involved in plant resistance to pathogens. However, there are no reports on wheat (Triticum aestivum) m6A transcriptome-wide map and its potential biological function in wheat resistance to wheat yellow mosaic virus (WYMV). To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to determine the transcriptome-wide m6A profile of two wheat varieties with different resistances to WYMV. By analyzing m6A-sequencing (m6A-seq) data, we identified 25,752 common m6A peaks and 30,582 common m6A genes in two groups [WYMV-infected resistant wheat variety (WRV) and WYMV-infected sensitive wheat variety (WSV)], and all these peaks were mainly enriched in 3′ untranslated regions and stop codons of coding sequences. Gene Ontology analysis of m6A-seq and RNA-sequencing data revealed that genes that showed significant changes in both m6A and mRNA levels were associated with plant defense responses. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis revealed that these selected genes were enriched in the plant–pathogen interaction pathway. We further verified these changes in m6A and mRNA levels through gene-specific m6A real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and normal RT-qPCR. This study highlights the role of m6A methylation in wheat resistance to WYMV, providing a solid basis for the potential functional role of m6A RNA methylation in wheat resistance to infection by RNA viruses.

Proteome expansion in thePotyviridaeevolutionary radiation

“… 2021 ), and recent data indicate it could be effective against potyvirids as supported by reported changes in N 6 -methyladenosine levels upon bymovirus infection (Zhang et al . 2021 ).…”

The Reversible Methylation of m6A Is Involved in Plant Virus Infection

“…Transcriptome-wide m6A profiling found a significant variation in the m6A modification patterns between the resistant and susceptible wheat varieties. Different m6A RNA modifications in the two varieties demonstrated regulation of gene expression and pathogen–plant interaction-related pathways [ 68 ]. The m6A demethylase activity of atALKBH9B modulates AMV infection and the m6A abundance in its genomic RNAs, indicating that plant m6A methylation might be involved in viral infection [ 50 ].…”

Understanding R Gene Evolution in Brassica

“…Among the studied epigenetic modifications, RNA N 6 -methyladosine (m 6 A) modification is the subject of the most up-to-date research, and it is the most prevalent internal post-transcriptional modification of mRNA. In experiments looking into the plant-pathogen arms race, results suggested that m 6 A modification is activated in pathogen-infected plants, which leads to different effects on the m 6 A and mRNA levels of genes related to plantpathogen interaction, indicating a variety-specific m 6 A modification [88,89]. m 6 A has been shown to evolve synchronously with genome evolution and mRNA abundance [90].…”