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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2016, Vol. 15 Issue (3): 591-599    DOI: 10.1016/S2095-3119(15)61180-7
Plant Protection Advanced Online Publication | Current Issue | Archive | Adv Search |
Amplification and function analysis of N6-adenine-specific DNA methyltransferase gene in Nilaparvata lugens
 ZHANG Jiao, XING Yan-ru, HOU Bo-feng, YUAN Zhu-ting, LI Yao, JIE Wen-cai, SUN Yang, LI Fei
1、Department of Entomology, College of Plant Protection, Nanjing Agricultural University/Key Laboratory of Monitoring and
Management of Plant Diseases and Insects, Ministry of Agriculture, Nanjing 210095, P.R.China
2、Key Lab of Agricultural Entomology, Ministry of Agriculture/Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058,
P.R.China
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摘要  Methylation of the N6 position of adenine, termed N6-methyladenine, protects DNA from restriction endonucleases via the host-specific restriction-modification system. N6-methyladenine was discovered and has been well studied in bacteria. N6-adenine-specific DNA methyltransferase (N6AMT) is the main enzyme catalyzing the methylation of the adenine base and knowledge of this enzyme was mainly derived from work in prokaryotic models. However, large-scale gene discovery at the genome level in many model organisms indicated that the N6AMT gene also exists in eukaryotes, such as humans, mice, fruit flies and plants. Here, we cloned a N6AMT gene from Nilaparvata lugens (Nlu-N6AMT) and amplified its fulllength transcript. Then, we carried out a systematic investigation of N6AMT in 33 publically available insect genomes, indicating that all studied insects had N6AMT. Genomic structure analysis showed that insect N6AMT has short introns compared with the mammalian homologs. Domain and phylogenetic analysis indicated that insect N6AMT had a conserved N6-adenineMlase domain that is specific to catalyze the adenine methylation. Nlu-N6AMT was highly expressed in the adult female. We knocked down Nlu-N6AMT by feeding dsRNA from the second instar nymph to adult female, inducing retard development of adult female. In all, we provide the first genome-wide analysis of N6AMT in insects and presented the experimental evidence that N6AMT might have important functions in reproductive development and ovary maturation.

Abstract  Methylation of the N6 position of adenine, termed N6-methyladenine, protects DNA from restriction endonucleases via the host-specific restriction-modification system. N6-methyladenine was discovered and has been well studied in bacteria. N6-adenine-specific DNA methyltransferase (N6AMT) is the main enzyme catalyzing the methylation of the adenine base and knowledge of this enzyme was mainly derived from work in prokaryotic models. However, large-scale gene discovery at the genome level in many model organisms indicated that the N6AMT gene also exists in eukaryotes, such as humans, mice, fruit flies and plants. Here, we cloned a N6AMT gene from Nilaparvata lugens (Nlu-N6AMT) and amplified its fulllength transcript. Then, we carried out a systematic investigation of N6AMT in 33 publically available insect genomes, indicating that all studied insects had N6AMT. Genomic structure analysis showed that insect N6AMT has short introns compared with the mammalian homologs. Domain and phylogenetic analysis indicated that insect N6AMT had a conserved N6-adenineMlase domain that is specific to catalyze the adenine methylation. Nlu-N6AMT was highly expressed in the adult female. We knocked down Nlu-N6AMT by feeding dsRNA from the second instar nymph to adult female, inducing retard development of adult female. In all, we provide the first genome-wide analysis of N6AMT in insects and presented the experimental evidence that N6AMT might have important functions in reproductive development and ovary maturation.
Keywords:  N6-adenine-specific DNA methyltransferase (N6AMT)       Nilaparvata lugens       expression       RNA interference       gene structure  
Received: 18 May 2015   Accepted:
Fund: 

This work was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2012CB114102).

Corresponding Authors:  LI Fei, Tel: +86-571-88982679,E-mail: lifei18@zju.edu.cn   
About author:  ZHANG Jiao, Tel: +86-25-84399920, E-mail: 1187562476@qq.com;

Cite this article: 

ZHANG Jiao, XING Yan-ru, HOU Bo-feng, YUAN Zhu-ting, LI Yao, JIE Wen-cai, SUN Yang, LI Fei. 2016. Amplification and function analysis of N6-adenine-specific DNA methyltransferase gene in Nilaparvata lugens. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 15(3): 591-599.

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