Targeted mRNA demethylation in Arabidopsis using plant m6A editor

Abstract

Abstract Background N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is an important epigenetic modification involved in RNA stability and translation regulation. Manipulating the expression of RNA m6A methyltransferases or demethylases makes it difficult to study the effect of specific RNA methylation. Results In this study, we report the development of Plant m6A Editors (PMEs) using dLwaCas13a (from L. wadei) and human m6A demethylase ALKBH5 catalytic domain. PMEs specifically demethylates m6A of targeted mRNAs (WUS, STM, FT, SPL3 and SPL9) to increase mRNAs stability. In addition, we discovered that a double ribozyme system can significantly improve the efficiency of RNA editing. Conclusion PMEs specifically demethylates m6A of targeted mRNAs to increase mRNAs stability, suggesting that this engineered tool is instrumental for biotechnological applications.

Keywords

• N6-methyladenosine
• Plant m6A editors
• Arabidopsis
• dLwaCas13a
• ALKBH5