MeRIP-seq and RNA-seq Reveals RNA m6A Methylation Patterns and Gene Expression Profile of Arabidopsis Plants in Response to CMV Infection

We reported that m6A plays a positive role in plant defense against virus pathogen Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV). CMV genomic RNAs can be m6A modified during plant infection, leading to reduced stability of viral RNAs. Dysfunctions of m6A writers and some readers led to increased susceptibility to CMV. Intriguingly, the increased susceptibility was only observed in the absence of 2b protein encoded by CMV. Our data demonstrated that CMV-2b can inhibit the deposition of m6A at viral RNAs through interfering with the assembly of m6A catalytic complexes. Expression of 2b protein can also antagonize plant m6A deposition. Moreover, CMV-2b was also found to interact with m6A reader proteins to disrupt its recognition of m6A-marked viral RNAs. Our findings unraveled an antagonistic mechanism of m6A-mediated plant antiviral defense. The Arabidopsis Col-0 plants were inoculated by wild-type cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) and the mutated virus deficient in 2b protein (CMVΔ2b). At 14 days post infection, CMV and CMVΔ2b-infected plants as well as uninfected mock plants were subjected to MeRIP-seq and RNA-seq analysis.