Profiling of RNA N 6 -Methyladenosine Methylation Reveals the Critical Role of m6A in Chicken Adipose Deposition.

Bohan Cheng,Ning Wang,Li Leng,Shouzhi Wang,Hui Li,Weijia Wang,Ziwei Li,Yang Jing,Yudong Li

doi:10.3389/fcell.2021.590468

Abstract

One of the main objectives of broiler breeding is to prevent excessive abdominal adipose deposition. The role of RNA modification in adipose deposition is not clear. This study was aimed to map m6A modification landscape in chicken adipose tissue. MeRIP-seq was performed to compare the differences in m6A methylation pattern between fat and lean broilers. We found that start codons, stop codons, coding regions, and 3′-untranslated regions were generally enriched for m6A peaks. The high m6A methylated genes (fat birds vs. lean birds) were primarily associated with fatty acid biosynthesis and fatty acid metabolism, while the low m6A methylated genes were mainly involved in processes associated with development. Furthermore, we found that the mRNA levels of many genes may be regulated by m6A modification. This is the first comprehensive characterization of m6A patterns in the chicken adipose transcriptome, and provides a basis for studying the role of m6A modification in fat deposition.

Highlights

As a result of long-term breeding efforts, the growth rate and meat yield of broilers have significantly improved; this has led to excessive body fat deposition
Our results show that several important lipogenic genes, including acyl-CoA synthetase longchain family member 1 (ACSL1), fatty acid synthase (FASN), LPIN1, and LDL receptor related protein 4 (LRP4), showed variations in both m6A methylation and mRNA expression
Our findings showed that the m6A methylation and mRNA expression of ACSL1 and FASN were higher in the fat birds compared with the lean birds, indicating that hypermethylation of ACSL1 and FASN mRNA in the fat line might promote the formation of TGs by enhancing mRNA stability and, increasing gene-expression levels

Summary

Introduction

As a result of long-term breeding efforts, the growth rate and meat yield of broilers have significantly improved; this has led to excessive body fat (especially abdominal fat) deposition. Adipose tissue development is controlled by a complex network of transcription factors (Farmer, 2006). In addition to transcriptional regulation, evidence suggests that adipose development and fat deposition can be regulated by the epigenetic mechanisms, such as DNA methylation (Zhu et al, 2012), histone modification (Wang et al, 2010), and chromatin remodeling (Siersbaek et al, 2011). In addition to the chemical modification of DNA and proteins, RNA modification has become a research hotspot in the field of epigenetics in recent years. More than 100 types of chemical modifications of RNA have been identified, with N6-methyladenosine (m6A) methylation being the most pervasive modification in eukaryotes (Yue et al, 2015). M6A is installed by a multicomponent methyltransferase complex consisting of Methyltransferase Like 3 (METTL3), M6A Landscape in Chicken Adipose

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