576 / 2019-04-08 10:16:14

N6-methyladenosine mRNA methylation is crucial for development and abiotic stress responses in Arabidopsis

Arabidopsis thaliana,abiotic stress,N6-methyladenosine methylation,RNA modification

全体主题 > RNA Biology

Among over 150 different types of base modifications found in RNAs, N6-methyladenosine is the most prevalent modification widely observed in eukaryotic mRNAs. In particular, m6A methylation is highly enriched near the start and stop codons and in the 3’UTR of mRNAs, which plays important roles in development and response to environmental cues. However, the functional significance of m6A RNA methylation in plant development and abiotic stress responses remains unclear. This study was carried out to discover how m6A RNA methylation affects plant development and stress responses. Analysis of the loss-of-function Arabidopsis mutants of an m6A writer protein showed that the mutants flower earlier than wild type. The expression of an m6A methyltransferase was significantly increased by salt, drought, or cold stress. The mutants of an m6A writer protein showed inhibited seed germination under salt or drought stress but promoted seed germination under cold stress. The survival rate of the mutants was significantly lower than that of wild type under salt stress. These observations suggest that m6A mRNA methylation play an essential role in plant development and abiotic stress responses.