MRNA adenosine methylase (MTA) deposits m⁶A on pri-miRNAs to modulate miRNA biogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana.

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 component

SUBMITTER: Bhat SS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7474595 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature