PfNSUN1 protein programs gene expression regulation in Plasmodium falciparum [RNA-seq]

C5 methylation of cytosines is a common RNA modification in eukaryotes, and the NSUN family are essential m5C modification executors. Currently, little is known about this family in Plasmodium spp. Thus, we constructed the pfnsun1 knockdown strain, and the knockdown efficiency was confirmed by growth curves and western blot experiments. The knockdown transcriptome data was acquired to find differentially expressed genes, and target genes of PfNSUN1 protein were identified by RNA immunoprecipitation and high-throughput sequencing experiments. Our data revealed that pfnsun1 is an indispensable RNA post-transcriptional modification regulator in P. falciparum that regulates gene expression. To explore the function of PfNSUN1 protein as an epigenetic regulator, we performed strict synchronization and divided the samples into drug-added and non-drug-added groups, then collected the transcriptome samples in the next growth cycle at ring, trophozoite and schizont stages, respectively.