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Updated: Sep 10, 2025
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Identification of Circular RNAs using RNA Sequencing
Published on: November 14, 2019
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Decoupling transcriptome layers: the distinct and variable nature of circular RNAs.
María Alonso-García1, Laurence Liaubet2, Thomas Faraut2
1Departamento de Producción Animal, Facultad de Veterinaria, Universidad de León, Campus de Vegazana, S/N, León, Spain.
BMC Biology
|August 27, 2025
Summary
Circular RNAs (circRNAs) and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) exhibit distinct regulatory patterns. Analyzing both circRNAs and mRNAs in parallel reveals complementary gene regulation layers, crucial for understanding biological responses.
Area of Science:
- Transcriptomics
- Gene Regulation
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Circular RNAs (circRNAs) and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) originate from the same genes but are produced via distinct splicing mechanisms.
- This study investigates the comparative behavior of circular and linear transcriptomes across various biological conditions and tissues.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the distinct regulatory logics of circular and linear transcriptomes.
- To understand their roles in response to infection and during tissue development and physiological variation.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of transcriptomic data from bovine monocyte-derived macrophage (MDM) samples during Mycobacterium avium ssp. paratuberculosis (MAP) infection.
- Examination of transcriptomic data from healthy bovine tissues (testes, liver, muscle) stratified by age, sex, and feed efficiency.
Main Results:
- The circular transcriptome is approximately 100 times smaller than the linear transcriptome.
- MAP infection primarily impacted the linear transcriptome in susceptible cattle (JD-), while circular transcriptomes showed less specific responses.
- Tissue maturation and physiological factors like sex and feed efficiency induced distinct, often uncoordinated, changes in circular and linear transcriptomes.
Conclusions:
- Circular and linear transcriptomes operate under largely independent regulatory mechanisms.
- CircRNAs may exhibit higher variability and potentially carry fewer direct physiological signals compared to mRNAs, especially in the absence of clear linear transcriptome signatures.
- Parallel analysis of both circRNAs and mRNAs is essential for a comprehensive understanding of gene regulation.
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