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Genome-Wide Identification of Circular RNAs in Fungal Parasite Nosema ceranae

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Abstract

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are newly discovered endogenous non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) that play key roles in microRNA function and transcriptional regulation. Though a large number of circRNAs had been identified in animals and plants, however, little is known regarding circRNAs in Nosema ceranae, a widespread fungal parasite of honeybee. In this study, using deep sequencing technology and bioinformatic analysis, we predicted 204 circRNAs from N. ceranae spore samples, including 174 exonic circRNAs and 30 intergenic circRNAs. In addition, the expression of seven N. ceranae circRNAs was confirmed by RT-PCR assay. Furthermore, regulation networks of circRNAs were constructed, and 15 circRNAs were found to act as sponges of the corresponding three miRNAs. GO categorization and pathway enrichment analysis suggested that the circRNAs are likely to play significant roles in N. ceranae spore. This is the first report of circRNAs generated by a microsporidia species. Our results provide novel insights into understanding the basic biology of N. ceranae.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank all editors and reviewers for their invaluable comments and recommendations that improved this work. This work was founded by the Earmarked Fund for Modern Agro-industry Technology Research System (CARS-44-KXJ7), the Science and Technology Planning Project of Fujian Province (2018J05042), the Education and Scientific Research Fund of Young Teachers of Fujian Educational Bureau (JAT170158), the Science and Technology Innovation Fund of Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (CXZX2017342,CXZX2017343), and the Open Fund of Key Laboratory of Pollinating Insect Biology of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (2017MFNZS02).

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  1. Rui Guo and Dafu Chen have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Bee Science, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China

    Rui Guo, Dafu Chen, Huazhi Chen, Cuiling Xiong, Yanzhen Zheng, Yu Du, Sihai Geng, Haipeng Wang, Zhou Dingding & Guo Yilong

  2. Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, 100093, China

    Chunsheng Hou

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  1. Rui Guo
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Correspondence to Dafu Chen.

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Guo, R., Chen, D., Chen, H. et al. Genome-Wide Identification of Circular RNAs in Fungal Parasite Nosema ceranae. Curr Microbiol 75, 1655–1660 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00284-018-1576-z

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