N6-methyladenosine RNA methylation modulates liquid‒liquid phase separation in plants

Abstract

Membraneless biomolecular condensates form distinct subcellular compartments that enable a cell to orchestrate numerous biochemical reactions in a spatiotemporal-specific and dynamic manner. Liquid‒liquid phase separation (LLPS) facilitates the formation of membraneless biomolecular condensates, which are crucial for many cellular processes in plants, including embryogenesis, the floral transition, photosynthesis, pathogen defense, and stress responses. The main component required for LLPS is a protein harboring key characteristic features, such as intrinsically disordered regions, low-complexity sequence domains, and prion-like domains. RNA is an additional component involved in LLPS. Increasing evidence indicates that modifications in proteins and RNAs play pivotal roles in LLPS. In particular, recent studies have indicated that N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification of messenger RNA is crucial for LLPS in plants and animals. In this review, we provide an overview of recent developments in the role of mRNA methylation in LLPS in plant cells. Moreover, we highlight the major challenges in understanding the pivotal roles of RNA modifications and elucidating how m6A marks are interpreted by RNA-binding proteins crucial for LLPS.