Screening and Analysis of RNA Methyltransferase From Plant Pathogenic Fungi
JIA Ming-Xuan1, ZHOU He1, WANG Mao-Cun1, SUN Han-Di1, CHENG Zhen1, FAN Yong-Shan2, GONG Xiao-Dong1, GU Shou-Qin1, LIU Yu-Wei1,*, DONG Jin-Gao1,*
1 College of Life Sciences, Hebei Agricultural University/Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Molecular Pathology of Hebei Province/State Key Laboratory of North China Crop Improvement and Regulation, Baoding 071000, China; 2 Department of Life Sciences, Tangshan Normal University, Tangshan 063002, China
Abstract：RNA methylation is the most important form of RNA modification, and N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most prevalent post-transcriptional modification of eukaryotic mRNA, which plays an important role in the regulation of growth and development of organisms. RNA methyltransferase acts as the major regulators of RNA methylation with few documented functional dissections focused on phytopathogenic fungi of plants. In the present study, structure and function of RNA methyltransferase in plant pathogenic fungi were explored via bioinformatics methods. The results showed that a total of 159 RNA methyltransferase genes were identified in 106 phytopathogenic fungi. The analysis of physicochemical properties showed that the average length of amino acids (aa) encoded by 159 phytopathogenic fungi RNA methyltransferases was about 470 aa (ranging from 179 to 1206 aa), the average molecular weight was about 52.64 kD (variation range 20.04~134.35 kD), and the average isoelectric point was about 7.26 (variation range 4.90~10.28). The evolutionary relationship of phytopathogenic fungi RNA methyltransferases was relatively conservative. The RNA methyltransferases which in the same phylum were generally clustered in the same clade, and the conservation motifs in same clade had highly similarity. Furthermore, Real-time qPCR method was used to analyze the expression pattern of gene encoding RNA methyltransferases in Setosphaeria turcica (StMETTL1) at different developmental stages. It was found that the expression level of StMETTL1 was significantly increased in infected nails stage (P<0.05), suggesting that StMETTL1 may play an important role in the process of S. turcica infection of the host. This study provides data support for further understanding the role of m6A in plant pathogenic fungi.
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