The novel circular RNA CircMef2c is positively associated with muscle growth in Nile tilapia

Muscle growth in teleosts is a complex biological process orchestrated by numerous protein-coding genes and non-coding RNAs. A few recent studies suggest that circRNAs are involved in teleost myogenesis, but the molecular networks involved remain poorly understood. In this study, an integrative omics approach was used to determine myogenic circRNAs in Nile tilapia by quantifying and comparing the expression profile of mRNAs, miRNAs, and circRNAs in fast muscle from full-sib fish with distinct growth rates. There were 1947 mRNAs, 9 miRNAs, and 4 circRNAs differentially expressed between fast- and slow-growing individuals. These miRNAs can regulate myogenic genes and have binding sites for the novel circRNA circMef2c. Our data indicate that circMef2c may interact with three miRNAs and 65 differentially expressed mRNAs to form multiple competing endogenous RNA networks that regulate growth, thus providing novel insights into the role of circRNAs in the regulation of muscle growth in teleosts.publishedVersio

Function of Circular RNAs in Fish and Their Potential Application as Biomarkers

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are an emerging class of regulatory RNAs with a covalently closed-loop structure formed during pre-mRNA splicing. Recent advances in high-throughput RNA sequencing and circRNA-specific computational tools have driven the development of novel approaches to their identification and functional characterization. CircRNAs are stable, developmentally regulated, and show tissue- and cell-type-specific expression across different taxonomic groups. They play a crucial role in regulating various biological processes at post-transcriptional and translational levels. However, the involvement of circRNAs in fish immunity has only recently been recognized. There is also broad evidence in mammals that the timely expression of circRNAs in muscle plays an essential role in growth regulation but our understanding of their expression and function in teleosts is still very limited. Here, we discuss the available knowledge about circRNAs and their role in growth and immunity in vertebrates from a comparative perspective, with emphasis on cultured teleost fish. We expect that the interest in teleost circRNAs will increase substantially soon, and we propose that they may be used as biomarkers for selective breeding of farmed fish, thus contributing to the sustainability of the aquaculture sector

CircPrime: a web-based platform for design of specific circular RNA primers

Abstract Background Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are covalently closed-loop RNAs with critical regulatory roles in cells. Tens of thousands of circRNAs have been unveiled due to the recent advances in high throughput RNA sequencing technologies and bioinformatic tools development. At the same time, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) cross-validation for circRNAs predicted by bioinformatic tools remains an essential part of any circRNA study before publication. Results Here, we present the CircPrime web-based platform, providing a user-friendly solution for DNA primer design and thermocycling conditions for circRNA identification with routine PCR methods. Conclusions User-friendly CircPrime web platform ( http://circprime.elgene.net/ ) works with outputs of the most popular bioinformatic predictors of circRNAs to design specific circular RNA primers. CircPrime works with circRNA coordinates and any reference genome from the National Center for Biotechnology Information database)

Effects of environmental factors on growth, survival, and metamorphosis of geoduck clam (Panopea japonica A. Adams, 1850) larvae

A series of experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of temperature, salinity, diet, and stocking density on the growth, survival, and metamorphosis of geoduck clam Panopea japonica larvae. The larvae all died at a temperature of 22 °C after day 12, suggesting that the larvae of P. japonica could not survive when the temperature was higher than 22 °C. P. japonica could be incubated at 19 °C for the fast growth, high survival and metamorphosis of larvae. The embryos all died when the salinity was below 25 ppt. The larvae showed poor survival when the salinity was below 25 ppt, with all larvae dying before day 12, suggesting that larvae are sensitive to low salinity. The optimum salinity for the growth, survival and metamorphosis of larvae was 32 ppt. The use of a mixture of Isochrysis galbana and Nitzschia closterium (1:1) as a food source for the P. japonica larvae improved their growth, survival, and metamorphosis. A density of 20 individuals/ml appeared to be optimal for normal D-larvae of Panopea japonica, and 3–9 larvae/ml was optimal for the growth and survival of the P. japonica larvae raised in the hatchery