m6A Editing: New Tool to Improve Crop Quality?

Hong-Xiang Zheng; Xi Sun; Xian-Sheng Zhang; Na Sui

doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2020.04.005

m⁶A Editing: New Tool to Improve Crop Quality?

Trends Plant Sci. 2020 Sep;25(9):859-867. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2020.04.005. Epub 2020 May 3.

Authors

Hong-Xiang Zheng¹, Xi Sun¹, Xian-Sheng Zhang², Na Sui³

Affiliations

¹ Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Stress, College of life Sciences, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, Shandong 250014, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, College of Life Sciences, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, Shandong 271018, China. Electronic address: zhangxs@sdau.edu.cn.
³ Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Plant Stress, College of life Sciences, Shandong Normal University, Jinan, Shandong 250014, China. Electronic address: suina@sdnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 32376086
DOI: 10.1016/j.tplants.2020.04.005

Abstract

N⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A) is the most common type of eukaryotic mRNA modification. It plays an important role in regulating plant growth and development and stress resistance. m⁶A modification influences nearly all aspects of RNA metabolism and functionality and has great potential for improving crop quality. However, changing m⁶A modification levels as a whole may have unpredictable effects, making it impossible to accurately predict the effect of specific m⁶A modifications on RNA. In this opinion article, the main challenges and possible solutions for exploring m⁶A modification functions in plant systems are discussed. An m⁶A editing platform that uses new high-throughput methods to identify m⁶A modification at single-base resolution, and genome editing for selective editing of specific m⁶A sites for crop improvement is proposed.

Keywords: CRISPR/Cas13; N(6)-methyladenosine (m(6)A); genome editing; m(6)A editing.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

CRISPR-Cas Systems*
Gene Editing*
Plant Development
Plants / genetics
RNA

Substances

RNA