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Bhat SS, Bielewicz D, Gulanicz T, Bodi Z, Yu X, Anderson SJ, Szewc L, Bajczyk M, Dolata J, Grzelak N, Smolinski DJ, Gregory BD, Fray RG, Jarmolowski A, Szweykowska-Kulinska Z. mRNA adenosine methylase (MTA) deposits m 6A on pri-miRNAs to modulate miRNA biogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:21785-21795. [PMID: 32817553 DOI: 10.1101/557900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/27/2023] Open
Abstract
In Arabidopsis thaliana, the METTL3 homolog, mRNA adenosine methylase (MTA) introduces N6-methyladenosine (m6A) into various coding and noncoding RNAs of the plant transcriptome. Here, we show that an MTA-deficient mutant (mta) has decreased levels of microRNAs (miRNAs) but accumulates primary miRNA transcripts (pri-miRNAs). Moreover, pri-miRNAs are methylated by MTA, and RNA structure probing analysis reveals a decrease in secondary structure within stem-loop regions of these transcripts in mta mutant plants. We demonstrate interaction between MTA and both RNA Polymerase II and TOUGH (TGH), a plant protein needed for early steps of miRNA biogenesis. Both MTA and TGH are necessary for efficient colocalization of the Microprocessor components Dicer-like 1 (DCL1) and Hyponastic Leaves 1 (HYL1) with RNA Polymerase II. We propose that secondary structure of miRNA precursors induced by their MTA-dependent m6A methylation status, together with direct interactions between MTA and TGH, influence the recruitment of Microprocessor to plant pri-miRNAs. Therefore, the lack of MTA in mta mutant plants disturbs pri-miRNA processing and leads to the decrease in miRNA accumulation. Furthermore, our findings reveal that reduced miR393b levels likely contributes to the impaired auxin response phenotypes of mta mutant plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susheel Sagar Bhat
- Department of Gene Expression, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, 61-614 Poznan, Poland
| | - Dawid Bielewicz
- Department of Gene Expression, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, 61-614 Poznan, Poland
| | - Tomasz Gulanicz
- Department of Gene Expression, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, 61-614 Poznan, Poland
- Centre For Modern Interdisciplinary Technologies, Nicolaus Copernicus University, 87-100 Torun, Poland
| | - Zsuzsanna Bodi
- School of Biosciences, Plant Science Division, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough LE12 5RD, United Kingdom
| | - Xiang Yu
- Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104
| | - Stephen J Anderson
- Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104
| | - Lukasz Szewc
- Department of Gene Expression, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, 61-614 Poznan, Poland
| | - Mateusz Bajczyk
- Department of Gene Expression, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, 61-614 Poznan, Poland
| | - Jakub Dolata
- Department of Gene Expression, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, 61-614 Poznan, Poland
| | - Natalia Grzelak
- Department of Gene Expression, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, 61-614 Poznan, Poland
| | - Dariusz J Smolinski
- Centre For Modern Interdisciplinary Technologies, Nicolaus Copernicus University, 87-100 Torun, Poland
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Nicolaus Copernicus University, 87-100 Torun, Poland
| | - Brian D Gregory
- Department of Biology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104
| | - Rupert G Fray
- School of Biosciences, Plant Science Division, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington, Loughborough LE12 5RD, United Kingdom
| | - Artur Jarmolowski
- Department of Gene Expression, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, 61-614 Poznan, Poland;
| | - Zofia Szweykowska-Kulinska
- Department of Gene Expression, Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology, Adam Mickiewicz University, 61-614 Poznan, Poland;
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