Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 11, 2026

Genome-wide Purification of Extrachromosomal Circular DNA from Eukaryotic Cells
Published on: April 4, 2016
Integration Analysis of Circle-Sequencing and Transcriptome Reveals Extrachromosomal Circular DNA Is Involved in the
Yushuang Song1,2, Keji Yu3, Yayu Guo1,2
1College of Biological Sciences & Biotechnology, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China.
Abstract:
Extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) has been reported to play important roles in regulating genome replication, immune response and cellular communications in humans and animals. Recently, the presence of eccDNA has also recently been discovered in Arabidopsis, Amaranthus palmeri and Oryza sativa. Nevertheless, whether eccDNA exists and has roles in woody plants remains enigmatic. Here, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of morphological imaging, transcriptome and eccDNA expression profiles during different development stages of vascular cambium in Chinese pine (Pinus tabuliformis (P. tabuliformis)). It was found that eccDNA existed in the different development stages of vascular cambium and derived from each chromosome of P. tabuliformis. Further analysis revealed that eccDNA was not entirely random but rather exhibited a certain preference in exon regions. We also identified a high frequency of AA/AT/TT/TA dinucleotide repeats at the junctions of eccDNA and found that the length distribution of eccDNA was clustered between 158 and 316 bp. Notably, integration analysis revealed that differentially expressed eccDNAs and their annotated genes exhibited more significant dynamic changes in the dormant stage as compared with other stages. Taken together, our results provide new insights into the important mechanisms by which eccDNA influences vascular cambium development, enhancing our understanding of its role in tree plasticity.
Related Concept Videos
Biological Clocks and Seasonal Responses
Cis-regulatory Sequences
Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons
Exon Recombination
Exon shuffling follows “splice frame rules.” Each exon has three reading...
Circadian Rhythms and Gene Regulation

