Roles of adenine methylation in the physiology of Lacticaseibacillus paracasei

Lacticaseibacillus paracasei is an economically important bacterial species, used in the food industry and as a probiotic. Here, we investigate the roles of N6-methyladenine (6mA) modification in L. paracasei using multi-omics and high-throughput chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C) analyses. The distribution of 6mA-modified sites varies across the genomes of 28 strains, and appears to be enriched near genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism. A pglX mutant, defective in 6mA modification, shows transcriptomic alterations but only modest changes in growth and genomic spatial organization.