5-methylcytosine modification and the ALYREF reader protein promote retrovirus replication

The 5-methylcytosine (m5C) modification is present at appreciable amounts in the mammalian transcriptome, but its precise location and function is still poorly understood. Here, we identify high m5C levels and map their locations in a model retrovirus, the murine leukemia virus, and show that the ALYREF m5C reader protein regulates viral replication. Our results reveal a single-nucleotide m5C profile in a virus and its function in a eukaryotic mRNA. Overall design: RNA bisulfite sequencing of murine leukemia virus (MLV) virions and infected mouse fibroblast, two biological replicate samples for each.