The S. cerevisiae m(6)A-reader Pho92 promotes timely meiotic recombination by controlling key methylated transcripts

N(6)-Methyladenosine (m(6)A), one of the most abundant internal modification of eukaryotic mRNAs, participates in the post-transcriptional control of gene expression through recruitment of specific m(6)A readers. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the m(6)A methyltransferase Ime4 is expressed only during meiosis and its deletion impairs this process. To elucidate how m(6)A control gene expression, we investigated the function of the budding yeast m(6)A reader Pho92. We show that Pho92 is an early meiotic factor that promotes timely meiotic progression. High-throughput RNA sequencing and mapping of Pho92-binding sites following UV-crosslinking reveal that Pho92 is recruited to specific mRNAs in an m(6)A-dependent manner during the meiotic prophase, preceding their down-regulation. Strikingly, point mutations altering m(6)A sites in mRNAs targeted by Pho92 are sufficient to delay their down-regulation and, in one case, to slow down meiotic progression. Altogether, our results indicate that Pho92 facilitate the meiotic progression by accelerating the down-regulation of timely-regulated mRNAs during meiotic recombination.