The mA RNA Demethylase ALKBH9B Plays a Critical Role for Vascular Movement of Alfalfa Mosaic Virus in Arabidopsis.

The -methyladenosine (mA) pathway has been widely described as a viral regulatory mechanism in animals. We previously reported that the capsid protein (CP) of alfalfa mosaic virus (AMV) interacts with the Arabidopsis mA demethylase ALKBH9B regulating mA abundance on viral RNAs (vRNAs) and systemic invasion of floral stems. Here, we analyze the involvement of other ALKBH9 proteins in AMV infection and we carry out a detailed evaluation of the infection restraint observed in mutant plants.

and Are Redundant Genes That Encode Epigenetic Machinery Components in Arabidopsis.

All critical developmental and physiological events in a plant's life cycle depend on the proper activation and repression of specific gene sets, and this often involves epigenetic mechanisms. Some mutants with disorders of the epigenetic machinery exhibit pleiotropic defects, including incurved leaves and early flowering, due to the ectopic and heterochronic derepression of developmental regulators. Here, we studied one such mutant class, the () loss-of-function mutants.

Patterns of CRISPR/Cas9 activity in plants, animals and microbes.

The CRISPR/Cas9 system and related RNA-guided endonucleases can introduce double-strand breaks (DSBs) at specific sites in the genome, allowing the generation of targeted mutations in one or more genes as well as more complex genomic rearrangements. Modifications of the canonical CRISPR/Cas9 system from Streptococcus pyogenes and the introduction of related systems from other bacteria have increased the diversity of genomic sites that can be targeted, providing greater control over the resolution of DSBs, the targeting efficiency (frequency of on-target mutations), the targeting accuracy (likelihood of off-target mutations) and the type of mutations that are induced. Although much is now known about the principles of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, the likelihood of different outcomes is species-dependent and there have been few comparative studies looking at the basis of such diversity.