title: Identification of Circular RNAs in Kiwifruit and Their Species-Specific Response to Bacterial Canker Pathogen Invasion.
abstract: Research studies have recently focused on circle RNAs (circRNAs) in relation to their regulatory functions in animals. However, the systematic identification of circRNAs in plants, especially non-model plants, is limited. In addition, raw report on the prediction of the potential role of circRNAs in plant response to pathogen invasion is currently available. We conducted the systematic identification of circRNAs from four materials originating from three species belonging to genusActinidiaunder different situations using ribosomal RNA (rRNA) depleted RNA-Seq data. A total of 3,582 circRNAs were identified inActinidia, of which 64.01, 21.44, and 14.55% were intergenic circRNAs, exonic circRNAs, and intronic circRNAs, respectively. Tissue-specific expression of circRNAs was observed in kiwifruit, and a species-specific response was detected when infected withPseudomonas syringaepv.actinidiae(Psa), which is the causative agent of kiwifruit bacterial canker disease. Furthermore, we found that both exonic and intronic circRNAs were significantly positively correlated to parent protein-coding genes, and intronic circRNAs are a class of highly remarkable regulators the parent genes comparing to that of exonic circRNAs. Expression and weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) identified a set of circRNAs that were closely associated with plant defense response. The findings of the presents study suggest that circRNAs exhibit tissue- and species-specific expression, as well as play an important role in plant immune response.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of SciencesGuangzhou, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied BotanyGuangzhou, China; College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China.
authors.forename: Zupeng
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of SciencesGuangzhou, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied BotanyGuangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yifei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specially Agriculture, The Chinese Academy of Sciences Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Dawei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specially Agriculture, The Chinese Academy of Sciences Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Plant Germplasm Enhancement and Specially Agriculture, The Chinese Academy of Sciences Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Qiong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of SciencesGuangzhou, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied BotanyGuangzhou, China; College of Life Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijing, China.
authors.forename: Shuaibin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Plant Resources Conservation and Sustainable Utilization, South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of SciencesGuangzhou, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Applied BotanyGuangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Hongwen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huang
keywords: PSA; WGCNA; circRNAs; kiwifruit; plant defense