1. AlkB RNA demethylase homologues and N 6 -methyladenosine are involved in Potyvirus infection.
- Author
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Yue J, Wei Y, Sun Z, Chen Y, Wei X, Wang H, Pasin F, and Zhao M
- Subjects
- Alkylation, Humans, Plant Diseases, RNA, Plant, Nicotiana, Plant Viruses genetics, Plum Pox Virus genetics, Potyvirus genetics
- Abstract
Proteins of the alkylation B (AlkB) superfamily show RNA demethylase activity removing methyl adducts from N
6 -methyladenosine (m6 A). m6 A is a reversible epigenetic mark of RNA that regulates human virus replication but has unclear roles in plant virus infection. We focused on Potyvirus-the largest genus of plant RNA viruses-and report here the identification of AlkB domains within P1 of endive necrotic mosaic virus (ENMV) and an additional virus of a putative novel species within Potyvirus. We show that Nicotiana benthamiana m6 A levels are reduced by infection of plum pox virus (PPV) and potato virus Y (PVY). The two potyviruses lack AlkB and the results suggest a general involvement of RNA methylation in potyvirus infection and evolution. Methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing of virus-infected samples showed that m6 A peaks are enriched in plant transcript 3' untranslated regions and in discrete internal and 3' terminal regions of PPV and PVY genomes. Down-regulation of N. benthamiana AlkB homologues of the plant-specific ALKBH9 clade caused a significant decrease in PPV and PVY accumulation. In summary, our study provides evolutionary and experimental evidence that supports the m6 A implication and the proviral roles of AlkB homologues in Potyvirus infection., (© 2022 The Authors. Molecular Plant Pathology published by British Society for Plant Pathology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)- Published
- 2022
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