Genome-wide identification of the N6-methyladenosine regulatory genes reveals NtFIP37B increases drought resistance of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.)

Abstract

Background N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is one of the common internal RNA modifications found in eukaryotes. The m6A modification can regulate various biological processes in organisms through the modulation of alternative splicing, alternative polyadenylation, folding, translation, localization, transport, and decay of multiple types of RNA, without altering the nucleotide sequence. The three components involved in m6A modification, namely writer, eraser, and reader, mediate the abundance of RNA m6A modification through complex collaborative actions. Currently, research on m6A regulatory genes in plants is still in its infancy. Results In this study, we identified 52 candidate m6A regulatory genes in common tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.). Gene structure, conserved domains, and motif analysis showed structural and functional diversity among different subgroups of tobacco m6A regulatory genes. The amplification of m6A regulatory genes were mainly driven by polyploidization and dispersed duplication, and duplicated genes evolved through purified selection. Based on the potential regulatory network and expression pattern analysis of m6A regulatory genes, a significant number of m6A regulatory genes might play important roles in growth, development, and stress response processes. Furthermore, we have confirmed the critical role of NtFIP37B, an m6A writer gene in tobacco, in enhancing drought resistance. Conclusions This study provides useful information for better understanding the evolution of m6A regulatory genes and the role of m6A modification in tobacco stress response, and lays the foundation for further elucidating the function of m6A regulatory genes in tobacco.

Genome-wide analysis of the SWEET gene family in Hemerocallis citrina and functional characterization of HcSWEET4a in response to salt stress

“…The study isolated 19 functional HcSWEETs successfully (Table 1 ), whose characteristics were similar to those reported in other plants especially HfSWEETs [ 41 ]. Secondary (Supplementary Table S1 ) and tertiary (Supplementary Figure S1 ) structure of HcSWEET proteins were predicted, revealing potential functions and interactions between proteins [ 42 ]. HcSWEETs fell into four phylogenetic clades by bioinformatics analysis, which were uniform with HfSWEETs, AtSWEETs, VvSWEETs, and LcSWEETs [ 5 , 41 , 43 , 44 ].…”