植物RNA乙酰化修饰调控机制与功能

doi:10.13560/j.cnki.biotech.bull.1985.2026-0121

摘要/Abstract

摘要：

RNA乙酰化修饰（ac⁴C）是胞苷第4位氮原子添加乙酰基形成的一种化学修饰，广泛分布于多种类型的RNA分子上，包括核糖体RNA（rRNA）和转运RNA（tRNA）。近年来，研究发现ac⁴C也存在于信使RNA（mRNA）上，是一种丰度相对较低的新型mRNA修饰。ac⁴C修饰主要由RNA乙酰转移酶N-乙酰转移酶10（NAT10）所催化，在核糖体生物发生、密码子识别以及mRNA翻译等关键生物学过程中发挥重要调控作用。在植物mRNA上，ac⁴C主要富集于5'非翻译区（5' UTR）靠近起始密码子的区域，该修饰可以显著提高mRNA的稳定性和翻译效率。在拟南芥、水稻等模式植物和农作物中，ac⁴C修饰参与调控叶片发育、光合效率、果实成熟及生物胁迫响应等多个生物学过程。目前，ac⁴C修饰的研究受到检测技术的限制，现有ac⁴C检测技术（如acRIP-seq与ac⁴C-seq）所得结果存在差异，导致ac⁴C在mRNA上的丰度与功能尚存争议。本文综述了ac⁴C的分布特征和乙酰转移酶NAT10的功能，对比分析了不同ac⁴C检测技术的优缺点，深入探讨了ac⁴C在植物中的生理功能和分子作用机制，并对该领域未来研究面临的挑战与方向进行了展望。该综述不仅为深入解析ac⁴C动态调控网络和分子机制提供了理论依据，也为推动基于RNA修饰的作物遗传改良提供了参考。

关键词: RNA乙酰化, 翻译效率, 叶片发育, 光合效率

Abstract:

N⁴ -acetylcytidine (ac⁴C) modification is a chemical modification formed by the addition of an acetyl group to the nitrogen atom at position 4 of cytidine. It is widely distributed in various types of RNA molecules, including ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and transfer RNA (tRNA). In recent years, studies have revealed that ac⁴C also exists in messenger RNA (mRNA) as a novel mRNA modification with relatively low abundance. The ac⁴C modification is mainly catalyzed by the RNA acetyltransferase N-acetyltransferase 10 (NAT10) and plays vital regulatory roles in key biological processes such as ribosome biogenesis, codon recognition, and mRNA translation. In plant mRNAs, ac⁴C is predominantly enriched in the 5' untranslated region (5' UTR) near the start codon, and this modification can significantly enhance mRNA stability and translation efficiency. In model plants and crops such as Arabidopsis thaliana and rice, ac⁴C modification participates in regulating multiple biological processes including leaf development, photosynthetic efficiency, fruit ripening, and biotic stress responses. Currently, research on ac⁴C modification is limited by detection technologies. Existing ac⁴C detection methods (such as acRIP-seq and ac⁴C-seq) yield inconsistent results, leading to ongoing controversies regarding the abundance and function of ac⁴C on mRNA. This review summarizes the distribution characteristics of ac⁴C and the functions of the RNA acetyltransferase NAT10, compares the advantages and disadvantages of different ac⁴C detection techniques, discusses the physiological functions and molecular mechanisms of ac⁴C in plants, and prospects the challenges and future directions in this field. This review not only provides a theoretical basis for further dissecting the dynamic regulatory network and molecular mechanisms of ac⁴C, but also offers references for promoting crop genetic improvement based on RNA modifications.

Key words: RNA acetylation, translation efficiency, leaf development, photosynthetic efficiency

龚蒙萌, 王帅斌, 何依璠, 高军平, 何鑫玺, 彭宇, 蒲文宣, 何崇圣. 植物RNA乙酰化修饰调控机制与功能[J]. 生物技术通报, 2026, 42(8): 1-7.

GONG Meng-meng, WANG Shuai-bin, HE Yi-fan, GAO Jun-ping, HE Xin-xi, PENG Yu, PU Wen-xuan, HE Chong-sheng. Regulatory Mechanisms and Functions of Plant RNA Acetylation Modification[J]. Biotechnology Bulletin, 2026, 42(8): 1-7.

图/表 2

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方法 Method	分辨率 Resolution	灵敏度 Sensitivity	局限性 Limitation	推荐对照 Recommended control	参考文献 Reference
acRIP-seq	低	高	依赖于抗体	nat10突变体	［5-6］
ac⁴C-seq	高	低	依赖于硼氢化物还原反应，灵敏度不足	Mock处理样本	［22］
DRS	高	高	需要训练集进行模型校正易受RNA二级结构干扰	nat10突变体	［23］
FAM-seq	高	较高	操作复杂，不适用所有样品易受RNA二级结构干扰	Mock处理样本	［24］
PACES	高	/	准确性较低预测结果须通过实验验证	独立ac⁴C测序结果	［25］

方法 Method	分辨率 Resolution	灵敏度 Sensitivity	局限性 Limitation	推荐对照 Recommended control	参考文献 Reference
acRIP-seq	低	高	依赖于抗体	nat10突变体	［5-6］
ac⁴C-seq	高	低	依赖于硼氢化物还原反应，灵敏度不足	Mock处理样本	［22］
DRS	高	高	需要训练集进行模型校正易受RNA二级结构干扰	nat10突变体	［23］
FAM-seq	高	较高	操作复杂，不适用所有样品易受RNA二级结构干扰	Mock处理样本	［24］
PACES	高	/	准确性较低预测结果须通过实验验证	独立ac⁴C测序结果	［25］