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Journal of Integrative Agriculture  2024, Vol. 23 Issue (1): 239-250    DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2023.07.011
Animal Science · Veterinary Medicine Advanced Online Publication | Current Issue | Archive | Adv Search |

New insights into developmental biology of Eimeria tenella revealed by comparative analysis of mRNA N6-methyladenosine modification between unsporulated oocysts and sporulated oocysts

Qing Liu1, Bingjin Mu1, Yijing Meng1, Linmei Yu1, Zirui Wang1, Tao Jia1, Wenbin Zheng1, Wenwei Gao1, Shichen Xie1, 2#, Xingquan Zhu1# 

1 Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Shanxi Agricultural University, Taigu 030801, China

2 Research Center for Parasites & Vectors, College of Veterinary Medicine, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China

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摘要  

相关研究表明,N6-腺苷酸甲基化(N6-methyladenosine, m6A修饰在影响RNA命运方面发挥重要作用,并且与许多物种的细胞生长和发育过程密切相关,但目前尚无关于柔嫩艾美耳球虫m6A修饰的报道。为了解析mRNA上的m6A修饰在柔嫩艾美耳球虫生长发育过程中的作用,本研究分别利用m6A MeRIP测序、RNA测序4D-label free定量蛋白质组学技术,检测了柔嫩艾美耳球虫孢子卵囊和未孢子化卵囊mRNA上的m6A修饰情况差异mRNA差异蛋白,并进行了生物信息学分析m6A MeRIP测序结果表明,m6A修饰在CDS区中最丰富,其次是终止密码子。与未孢子卵囊相比,在孢子化卵囊检测到3903个高甲基化基因3178个低甲基化的基因对差异甲基化的基因和差异mRNA进行关联分析的结果表明,大多数基因的m6A修饰与mRNA丰度呈正相关。我们随机选取了4个基因进行荧光定量PCRm6A MeRIP-PCR验证,该结果和m6A MeRIP测序及RNA测序数据一致。GOKEGG注释分析显示这些差异甲基化且mRNA丰度存在差异的基因regulation of gene expressionepigeneticmicrotubuleautophagy-otherTOR signaling等相关。此外,我们将存在差异甲基化但mRNA丰度上没有差异的基因与蛋白组学数据进行关联分析,结果表明,一共有96个差异甲基化的基因mRNA丰度上没有差异但在蛋白丰度存在显著差异。GOKEGG注释分析显示96个基因可能参与虫体的细胞生物合成和代谢。我们首次绘制了柔嫩艾美耳球虫孢子化卵囊和未孢子卵囊转录组范围的m6A修饰图谱,通过与RNA测序数据和蛋白质组学数据的联合分析,揭示了m6A修饰在虫体发育过程中的潜在调控作用,并发现m6A修饰可能通过不依赖于mRNA水平的机制影响虫体发育过程中mRNA的翻译。



Abstract  

Evidence showed that N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification plays a pivotal role in influencing RNA fate and is strongly associated with cell growth and developmental processes in many species.  However, no information regarding m6A modification in Eimeria tenella is currently available.  In the present study, we surveyed the transcriptome-wide prevalence of m6A in sporulated oocysts and unsporulated oocysts of Etenella.  Methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeRIP-seq) analysis showed that m6A modification was most abundant in the coding sequences, followed by stop codon.  There were 3,903 hypermethylated and 3,178 hypomethylated mRNAs in sporulated oocysts compared with unsporulated oocysts.  Further joint analysis suggested that m6A modification of the majority of genes was positively correlated with mRNA expression.  The mRNA relative expression and m6A level of the selected genes were confirmed by quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) and MeRIP-qPCR.  GO and KEGG analysis indicated that differentially m6A methylated genes (DMMGs) with significant differences in mRNA expression were closely related to processes such as regulation of gene expression, epigenetic, microtubule, autophagy-other and TOR signaling.  Moreover, a total of 96 DMMGs without significant differences in mRNA expression showed significant differences at protein level.  GO and pathway enrichment analysis of the 96 genes showed that RNA methylation may be involved in cell biosynthesis and metabolism of Etenella.  We firstly present a map of RNA m6A modification in Etenella, which provides significant insights into developmental biology of E. tenella.

Keywords:  Eimeria tenella              m6A        RNA methylation        MeRIP-seq        RNA-seq        proteomic analysis   
Received: 27 March 2023   Accepted: Online: 26 May 2023  
Fund: 

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31902298), the Shanxi Provincial Key Research and Development Program, China (2022ZDYF126), the Fund for Shanxi “1331 Project”, China (20211331-13), the Science and Technology Innovation Program of Shanxi Agricultural University, China (2017YJ10), and the Special Research Fund of Shanxi Agricultural University for High-level Talents, China (2021XG001).

About author:  Qing Liu, E-mail: lqsxau@163.com; #Correspondence Shichen Xie, Tel: +86-354-6286886, E-mail: xieshichen221@163.com; Xingquan Zhu, Tel: +86-354-6286886, E-mail: xingquanzhu1@hotmail.com

Cite this article: 

Qing Liu, Bingjin M, Yijing Meng, Linmei Yu, Zirui Wang, Tao Jia, Wenbin Zheng, Wenwei Gao, Shichen Xie, Xingquan Zhu. 2024.

New insights into developmental biology of Eimeria tenella revealed by comparative analysis of mRNA N6-methyladenosine modification between unsporulated oocysts and sporulated oocysts . Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 23(1): 239-250.

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