Investigation of circular RNAs in an ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor (Acarina: Varroidae) of the honey bee

Parasitology Research volume 120, pages715–723(2021)Cite this article

Abstract

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a large class of non-protein-coding transcripts that are involved in a diverse spectrum of regulatory mechanisms across a broad range of biological processes. To date, however, few studies on circRNAs have investigated their role in the biology of invertebrate parasites. The ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor is perceived as the principal biotic threat towards global honey bee health. This parasite cannot be sustainably controlled partially due to the lack of knowledge about its basic molecular biology. In this paper, we unveil the circRNA profile of V. destructor for the first time and report the sources, distribution, and features of the identified circRNAs. Exonic, intronic, exon-intron, and intergenic circRNAs were discovered and exon-intron circRNAs were the most abundant within the largest spliced length. Three hundred and eighty-six (8.3%) circRNAs were predicted to possess translational potential. Eleven circRNAs, derived from six parental genes, exhibited strong bonds with miRNAs as sponges, suggesting an efficient post-transcriptional regulation. GO term and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses of the parental genes of the identified circRNAs showed that these non-coding RNAs were mainly engaged in protein processing, signal transduction, and various metabolism processes. To our knowledge, this is the first catalog of a circRNA profile of parasitiformes species, which reveals the prevalence of circRNAs in the parasite and provides biological insights for future genetic studies on this ubiquitous parasitic mite.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dr. Lu Gan for her assistance in the data analyses. We also thank Dr. Paul Page for his help on linguistic revision.

Funding

Financial support was granted by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31902220, Z.L.), the earmarked fund for Modern Agro-industry Technology Research System (CARS-45-SYZ6, T.J.), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2019 M651983, Z.L.), the Science and Technology Support Program of Jiangsu Province (BE2018353, T.J.), and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (G.C. and T.J.).

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Affiliations

  1. Apicultural Research Institute, College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, 225009, China

    Zheguang Lin, Hao Xu, Heng Chen, Yibing Liu, Kang Wang, Guohong Chen & Ting Ji

  2. Jinhua Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinhua, 321017, China

    Xiaoling Su

  3. Wuzhong Animal Health Supervision Institute, Suzhou, 215100, China

    Yalu Ke & Wei Wang

  4. Shandong Apiculture Breeding of Improved Varieties and Extension Center, Taian, 271000, China

    Yujiao Li

  5. Apicultural Science Institute of Jilin Province, Jilin, 132108, China

    Mingliang Zhuang

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  1. Zheguang Lin
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  2. Hao Xu
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  3. Xiaoling Su
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  4. Yalu Ke
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Contributions

Conceptualization: T.J., G.C., and Z.L.; methodology: T.J., X.S., and Z.L.; validation: H.X., M.Z., H.C., and YB.L.; investigation: H.X., M.Z., Y.K., K.W., and YB.L.; resources: Y.K., W.W., and YJ.L.; data curation: X.S., YJ.L., and W.W.; writing—original draft preparation: Z.L.; writing—review and editing: X.S., M.Z., and T.J.; supervision: T.J. and G.C.; project administration: T.J. and G.C.; funding acquisition: T.J., G.C., and Z.L.

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Correspondence to Ting Ji.

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Lin, Z., Xu, H., Su, X. et al. Investigation of circular RNAs in an ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor (Acarina: Varroidae) of the honey bee. Parasitol Res 120, 715–723 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-020-07018-2

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Keywords

  • Circular RNA
  • Varroa destructor
  • Honey bee
  • Non-coding RNA
  • Ectoparasitic mite