Identification and co-expression analysis of temperature responsive circRNAs in tea plant

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are recently known to regulate various biological processes associated with developmental transitions and stress condition in plants. In this study, a total of 763 circRNAs were identified in tea plants during temperature stress conditions, among which 60 circRNAs are found to be differentially expressed (DE). Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) of Gene Ontology (GO) revealed that parental genes of DE circRNAs were activated in response to heat, response to temperature stimulus, protein binding, response to stress, etc. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) showed that 7 circRNAs co-expressed with 601 genes that are positively correlated in high temperature stresses, whereas 4 circRNAs co-expressed with 169 genes that showed positive correlation to low temperature stresses. A total of 42 DE circRNAs were predicted to act as competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA), sponging the miRNA activity by acting as endogenous target mimics (eTMs) for different transcription factors (TFs) like HSF, MYB, WRKY, etc. This study identified temperature responsive circRNAs in tea plants and also establishes a foundation for further research on candidate circRNAs in temperature stress conditions.