Wolbachia elevates host methyltransferase expression and alters the m⁶A methylation landscape in Aedes aegypti mosquito cells.

ABSTRACT: Wolbachia pipientis is an intracellular endosymbiotic bacterium that blocks the replication of several arboviruses in transinfected Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, yet its antiviral mechanism remains unknown. For the first time, we employed Nanopore direct RNA sequencing technology to investigate the impact of wAlbB strain of Wolbachia on the host's N⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A) machinery and post-transcriptional modification landscape. Our study revealed that Wolbachia infection elevates the expression of genes involved in the mosquito's m⁶A methyltransferase complex. However, knocking down these m⁶A-related genes did not affect Wolbachia density. Nanopore sequencing identified 1,392 differentially modified m⁶A DRACH motifs on mosquito transcrip

SUBMITTER: Leitner M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11934717 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature