CircRNAs are a new member of endogenous RNAs, which characterized by a closed‐loop structure without terminated 5′ caps and 3′ tails via covalent bonding, which are evolutionarily conserved among different species and often exhibit tissue or developmental stage‐specific expression. So far, thousands of circRNAs have been discovered in eukaryotic cells. CircRNAs are more stable due to its resistance to exonuclease implying important biological functions in all kingdoms of life. They could function as miRNA sponges, interfere with splicing and bind to protein to regulate the expression of host genes and so on. In addition, emerging evidence suggests that circRNAs are closely related to a series of physiological processes in livestock and poultry. In this review, we summarized the biogenesis mechanism, major biological function and detection methods and focused on research advance of circRNAs in livestock and poultry, aiming at providing certain reference value and novel techniques for the development of new molecular genetic markers and breeding of livestock and poultry. Meanwhile, we hope this review could show significant prospect for other researches.

中文翻译：

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circRNA的生物学功能及其在牲畜和家禽中的进展。

CircRNA是内源性RNA的一个新成员，其特征是闭环结构，没有通过共价键终止的5'帽和3'尾巴，它们在不同物种之间是进化保守的，通常表现出组织或发育阶段特异性表达。迄今为止，在真核细胞中已经发现了数千种circRNA。CircRNA由于对核酸外切酶的抵抗力而更稳定，这意味着在所有生命王国中都具有重要的生物学功能。它们可以作为miRNA海绵发挥作用，干扰剪接并与蛋白质结合以调节宿主基因的表达等。此外，越来越多的证据表明，circRNA与牲畜和家禽的一系列生理过程密切相关。在这篇综述中，我们总结了生物发生机理，主要生物学功能和检测方法，重点研究了畜禽中circRNA的研究进展，旨在为新型分子遗传标记的开发和畜禽养殖提供一定的参考价值和新技术。同时，我们希望这篇综述可以为其他研究显示出重要的前景。