m5C Methylation Guides Systemic Transport of Messenger RNA over Graft Junctions in Plants

• DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.06.042
• Publication Date: 2019-07-18T14:30:47Z
• Authors: Lei Yang; Valentina Perrera; Eleftheria Saplaoura; Federico Apelt; Mathieu Bahin; Amira Kramdi; Justyna Olas; Bernd Mueller-Roeber; Ewelina Sokolowska; Wenna Zhang; Runsheng Li; Nicolas Pitzalis; Manfred Heinlein; Shoudong Zhang; Auguste Genovesio; Vincent Colot; Friedrich Kragler
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; root development; Arabidopsis; Methylation; phloem; General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology; mRNA methylation; mRNA transport; 03 medical and health sciences; m5C; HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins; RNA, Messenger; Institut für Biochemie und Biologie; long-distance transport; mRNA modification; plasmodesmata; Arabidopsis Proteins; [SDV.BBM.BM]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Biochemistry, Molecular Biology/Molecular biology; Biological Transport; grafting; RNA, Plant; 5-Methylcytosine; ddc:570; General Agricultural and Biological Sciences; Microtubule-Associated Proteins

In plants, transcripts move to distant body parts potentially act as systemic signals regulating development and growth. Thousands of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) are transported across graft junctions via the phloem distinct plant parts. Little is known regarding features, structural motifs, potential base modifications how these may affect their mobility. We identified Arabidopsis thaliana mRNAs harboring modified 5-methylcytosine (m5C) found that significantly enriched in previously described mobile, moving over confirm this finding with graft-mobile methylated TRANSLATIONALLY CONTROLLED TUMOR PROTEIN 1 (TCTP1) HEAT SHOCK COGNATE 70.1 (HSC70.1), whose mRNA transport diminished mutants deficient m5C methylation. Together, our results point toward an essential role cytosine methylation mobility plants TCTP1 required for its signaling function.