Zhang Peijing, Li Sida, Chen Ming
Department of Bioinformatics, State Key Laboratory of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
James D. Watson Institute of Genome Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Front Mol Biosci. 2020 May 19;7:91. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2020.00091. eCollection 2020.
CircRNAs are covalently closed-loop single-stranded RNA molecules ubiquitously expressing in eukaryotes. As an important member of the endogenous ncRNA family, circRNAs are associated with diverse biological processes and can regulate transcription, modulate alternative splicing, and interact with miRNAs or proteins. Compared to abundant advances in animals, studies of circRNAs in plants are rapidly emerging. The databases and analysis tools for plant circRNAs are constantly being developed. Large numbers of circRNAs have been identified and characterized in plants and proved to play regulatory roles in plant growth, development, and stress responses. Here, we review the biogenesis, characteristics, bioinformatics resources, and biological functions of plant circRNAs, and summarize the distinct circularization features and differentially expression patterns comparison with animal-related results.
环状RNA（circRNAs）是真核生物中普遍表达的共价闭环单链RNA分子。作为内源性非编码RNA家族的重要成员，circRNAs与多种生物学过程相关，可调控转录、调节可变剪接，并与微小RNA（miRNAs）或蛋白质相互作用。与动物研究取得的大量进展相比，植物circRNAs的研究正在迅速兴起。植物circRNAs的数据库和分析工具也在不断开发。大量的circRNAs已在植物中被鉴定和表征，并被证明在植物生长、发育和应激反应中发挥调节作用。在此，我们综述了植物circRNAs的生物合成、特征、生物信息学资源和生物学功能，并总结了与动物相关结果相比其独特的环化特征和差异表达模式。
