Induction of sporulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae leads to the formation of N6-methyladenosine in mRNA: a potential mechanism for the activity of the IME4 gene.

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is present at internal sites in mRNA isolated from all higher eukaryotes, but has not previously been detected in the mRNA of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This nucleoside modification occurs only in a sequence- specific context that appears to be conserved across diverse species. The function of this modification is not fully established, but there is some indirect evidence that m6A may play a role in the efficiency of mRNA splicing, transport or translation.