【摘要】 环形RNA(circRNA)是一类特殊的闭合环状RNA,主要由5’末端和3’末端通过反向剪接的方式共价结合形成.在多细胞动物中,circRNA具有一定的进化保守性和组织特异性.古菌作为生物三大领域之一,大多生活在高温、高盐、低氧等极端环境中.对古菌的研究是认知生命进化不可缺少的一环.目前对于古菌circRNA鉴定及特征并没有系统性的研究.选取了地中海富盐菌和西班牙盐盒菌两种嗜盐古菌为研究对象,利用RNA测序(RNA-seq)技术和生物信息学手段,鉴定出两种古菌中circRNA的存在,并深入分析了circRNA的特点;最后以分子生物学手段,对两种嗜盐古菌中部分circRNAs进行验证.在地中海富盐菌中,检测到67个circRNAs;在西班牙盐盒菌中,检测到133个circRNAs.在这两种嗜盐古菌中,circRNA主要源于16S rRNA、23S rRNA、16S rRNA-23S rRNA和蛋白编码基因序列.更多还原

【Abstract】 Circular RNA(circRNA) is a special type of RNA, which forms covalent-closed continuous loop in most cases through 5’ to 3’ ends via back-splicing. CircRNAs demonstrate a certain degree of conservation and show some tissue specificity in multicellular animals. Archaea is one of the three domains of life, and archaeal organisms often live in high temperature, high salt, low oxygen, or other extreme environments. Study of archaea is an essential part of evolutionary research. So far, there have been no systematic studies on the identification and functional characterization of archaeal circRNAs. In this study, two halophilic archaea Haloferax mediterranei and Haloarcula hispanica were investigated. Through RNA-seq and bioinformatics, the existence of some circRNAs in two halophilic archaea were confirmed and the relevant characteristics of circRNAs were analyzed in depth. Furthermore, the existence of specific circRNAs in two halophilic archaea was confirmed by means of molecular biology. 67 circRNAs in the Haloferax mediterranei and 133 circRNAs in the Haloarcula hispanica were detected. CircRNAs in the two halophilic archaea were found to have derived mainly from sequences of 16 S rRNA, 23 S rRNA, 16 S rRNA-23 S rRNA, and protein-coding genes.更多还原