Ectopic expression of the transcriptional regulator and m6A writer complex member HIZ1 impacts development

However, higher levels of HIZ1 overexpression did not reduce m6A levels beyond a 25% decrease, consistent with the complete titration of methylase complex interacting partner(s). Using chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing, we show that HIZ1 is predominantly associated with predicted gene promoter regions and is significantly enriched on genes whose transcripts are m6A modified. Our results suggest that constitutive overexpression of HIZ1 promotes vegetative growth and also disrupts reproductive growth in Arabidopsis.

This likely occurs both through m6A inhibition and transcriptional regulations. Thus, HIZ1 may function in an analogous fashion to mouse zinc finger protein 217 (ZFP217, human homolog ZNF217), which acts as both a transcriptional regulator and a suppressor of the m6A methylation complex.