{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,20]],"date-time":"2026-10-20T15:06:22Z","timestamp":1792508782032,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"National Academy of Sciences","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]],"date-time":"2026-03-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772582400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"MOST | National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["U20A2040"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["U20A2040"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"MOST | National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["31970076"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["31970076"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012166","name":"MOST | National Key Research and Development Program of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2017YFD0201201"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2017YFD0201201"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012166","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.pnas.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Understanding the global regulatory mechanisms that control pathogen virulence gene expression is essential for elucidating the molecular basis of pathogenicity. N6-methyladenine (6 mA) plays a crucial role in regulating gene expression in response to various environmental stresses; however, its role in pathogen virulence remains largely unexplored. Here, we report the widespread occurrence of 6 mA across 17 nematode isolates and map its genomic landscape in six notorious agriculturally important pathogen root-knot nematodes (RKNs). We demonstrated that 6 mA is characterized by a conserved GAG motif across nematodes, but exhibits species-specific distribution patterns and distinct effects on gene expression. In particular, its enrichment in transposable elements (TEs) differs between polyploid and diploid nematodes, suggesting lineage-specific epigenetic regulation potentially associated with polyploidy. We further identified two functional 6 mA demethylases, MiNMAD-1 and MiNMAD-2, and confirmed their catalytic activity and active sites. Host-induced gene silencing (HIGS) of\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">minmad-1<\/jats:italic>\n                    significantly increased plant resistance to three polyploid RKN species. A detailed functional analysis revealed that\n                    <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">minmad-1<\/jats:italic>\n                    knockdown broadly affected gene expression during the parasitic stage, including genes involved in virulence, thereby reducing nematode infectivity. Together, our findings suggest 6 mA demethylase as a key epigenetic regulator of RKNs\u2019 virulence, providing new insights into nematode biology and offering promising targets for the development of sustainable control strategies.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.2525035123","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]],"date-time":"2026-03-04T18:40:32Z","timestamp":1772649632000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.cm10313","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["N6-methyladenine DNA modification modulates pathogen virulence in nematodes"],"prefix":"10.1073","volume":"123","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0955-3889","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dadong","family":"Dai","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University","place":["Wuhan, China"]},{"name":"Hubei Hongshan 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M.","year":"2006","unstructured":"H. M. Robertson, J. H. Thomas, The putative chemoreceptor families of C. elegans. 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Data from \u201cMeloidogyne hapla draft genome in chromosome level.\u201d Genome Warehouse. https:\/\/ngdc.cncb.ac.cn\/gwh\/Assembly\/109468\/show. Deposited 28 December 2025."}],"container-title":["Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/pnas.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1073\/pnas.2525035123","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]],"date-time":"2026-03-04T18:40:37Z","timestamp":1772649637000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/pnas.org\/doi\/10.1073\/pnas.2525035123"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]]},"references-count":55,"journal-issue":{"issue":"10","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,10]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1073\/pnas.2525035123"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.2525035123","relation":{},"ISSN":["0027-8424","1091-6490"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0027-8424","type":"print"},{"value":"1091-6490","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,4]]},"assertion":[{"value":"2025-10-10","order":0,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2026-01-14","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2026-03-04","order":3,"name":"published","label":"Published","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}}],"article-number":"e2525035123"}}