A comparative analysis of differential N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification between non-transgenic and LBD15 overexpressing Poplar 84 K plants

N6-methyladenosine (m6A) plays an important role in the gene expression regulation. Previously, we found an ortholog of Arabidopsis LBD15 that showed xylem preferential expression and involved in leaf development in Poplar 84 K. In order to investigate whether m6A modification affects the function of LBD15, the m6A-immunoprecipitation sequence and the matched input RNA sequence for non-transgenic plants (CK) and the LBD15 overexpression (LBD15-oe) plants were compared and analyzed. As a result, 7,156 differential m6A peaks were identified, with 2,896 upregulated m6A peaks and 4,260 downregulated m6A peaks. Correlation analysis of differential expression genes and differential m6A peaks indicated that a total of 119 differently methylated genes showed a negative correlation with the differentially expressed genes. Among them, Nudix hydrolase, LRR receptor-like serine/threonine-protein kinase, tubulin, vacuole membrane protein KMS1, and MYB family transcription factor PHL11 may be involved in the posttranscriptional gene regulation in LBD15 overexpression plants. The expression of ten m6A-modified genes was validated by qRT-PCR. Our results will provide a basis for the further elucidation of the regulatory mechanism of m6A modification and the epigenetic regulation of LBD15.