Identification of circRNAs in the Liver of Whitespotted Bamboo Shark (Chiloscyllium plagiosum)

Whitespotted bamboo shark (Chiloscyllium plagiosum), a member of the cartilaginous fish family, has an extremely large liver and demonstrates a strong regeneration ability and immune regulation. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) is an important class of non-coding RNAs. Increasing evidences suggest that circRNAs are a kind of potential regulators. Recently, researchers have isolated and identified different circRNAs from various species, while few reports were on the circRNAs of C. plagiosum. In this study, we have identified a total of 4,558 circRNAs in the liver of C. plagiosum. This finding suggests that circRNAs are not evenly distributed in the chromosomes and follow the GT-AG rule during cyclization. Alternative back-splicing might exist in shark circRNAs as shown by the authenticity identification of predicted circRNAs. The binding strength of circRNAs (<2,000 bp) and the detected miRNAs in shark liver were simultaneously analyzed to construct an mRNA–miRNA–circRNA network for the Glutathione S-transferase P1 gene, and the circRNA authenticity was simultaneously verified. Our data provide not only novel insights into the rich existence of circRNAs in marine animals, but also a basis for characterizing functions of identified circRNAs in the liver homeostasis of C. plagiosum.