N⁶-Methyladenosine RNA Modification Regulates Maize Resistance to Maize Chlorotic Mottle Virus Infection

Maize chlorotic mottle virus (MCMV) is one of the main viruses causing significant losses in maize. N⁶-methyladenosine (m⁶A) RNA modification has been proven to play important regulatory roles in plant development and stress response. In this study, we found that MCMV infection significantly up-regulated the m⁶A level in maize, and methylated RNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeRIP-seq) and RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) were performed to investigate the distribution of m⁶A modified peaks and gene expression patterns in MCMV-infected maize plants. The results showed that 1325 differentially methylated genes (DMGs) and 47 differentially methylated and expressed genes (DMEGs) were identified and analyzed. Moreover, the results of virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) assays showed that <i>ZmECT18</i> and <i>ZmGST31</i> were required for MCMV infection, while silencing of <i>ZmMTC</i>, <i>ZmSCI1</i> or <i>ZmTIP1</i> significantly promoted MCMV infection in maize. Our findings provided novel insights into the regulatory roles of m⁶A modification in maize response to MCMV infection.