Transcriptome-wide N6-methyladenosine(m^(6)A)methylation in soybean under Meloidogyne incognita infection

N^(6)-methyladenosine(m^(6)A)is a reversible epigenetic modification of mRNA and other RNAs that plays a significant role in regulating gene expression and biological processes.However,m^(6)A abundance,dynamics,and transcriptional regulatory mechanisms remain unexplored in the context of soybean resistance to Meloidogyne incognita.In this study,we performed a comparative analysis of transcriptome-wide m^(6)A and metabolome profiles of soybean root tissues with and without M.incognita infection.Global m^(6)A hypermethylation was widely induced in response to M.incognita infection and was enriched around the 3′end of coding sequences and in 3′UTR regions.There were 2069 significantly modified m^(6)A sites,594 differentially expressed genes,and 103 differentially accumulated metabolites between infected and uninfected roots,including coumestrol,psoralidin,and 2-hydroxyethylphosphonate.Among 101 m^(6)A-modified DEGs,34 genes were hypomethylated and upregulated,and 39 genes were hypermethylated and downregulated,indicating a highly negative correlation between m^(6)A methylation and gene transcript abundance.A number of these m^(6)A-modified DEGs,including WRKY70,ERF60,POD47 and LRR receptor-like serine/threonine-protein kinases,were involved in plant defense responses.Our study provides new insights into the critical role of m^(6)A modification in early soybean responses to M.incognita.