Circular RNAs in the ageing African turquoise killifish

CircRNAs are a subgroup of RNAs which form a circular molecule. During the splicing process the 3 splice donor loops back to form a covalent bond with an upstream 5 splice acceptor instead of the downstream 5 acceptor. The majority of circRNAs are non-coding splice isoforms of protein coding genes showing tissue and time specific expression. Because circRNAs have no 5 cap nor 3 poly-A tail, they degrade slower than their linear host genes. Only few studies were able to show a specific function for circRNAs.\n\nIn this work we sequenced 23 samples from three tissues (brain, muscle, and gut) at three (two for gut) time points throughout the life of the naturally short-lived African turquoise killifish (Nothobranchius furzeri). We identified 1810 unique circRNAs, half of which are conserved with humans and mice. With this study we provide a comprehensive atlas to the circRNA landscape in the ageing African turquoise killifish, which serves as a novel resource to the circRNA as well as the ageing community.