Circular RNA is one of the endogenous non-coding RNAs with a covalently closed loop structure and largely involved in regulating gene expression. However, the abundance of circular RNAs and their regulatory functions during the early stages of fiber development are still not known. In this work, we conducted high-throughput sequencing of the Ligonlintless-1 and its wild-type at 0 DPA, 8 DPA and stem. A total of 2811 circular RNAs were identified and unevenly distributed across cotton chromosomes. We found 34, 142 and 27 circular RNAs were differentially expressed between Ligonlintless-1 and wild-type at 0 DPA, 8 DPA and stem, respectively. Both circular RNA-microRNA-mRNA network and MeJA treatment results in Ligonlintless-1 and wild-type might provide a strong indication of four circular RNAs and ghr_miR169b being important biological molecular associating with fiber development. The results provide new insight into the putative molecular function of circular RNAs in the regulation of fiber development.

环状RNA是内源性非编码RNA之一，具有共价闭环结构，主要参与调控基因表达。然而，在纤维发育的早期阶段，环状 RNA 的丰度及其调节功能仍然未知。在这项工作中，我们对 Ligonlintless-1 及其野生型在 0 DPA、8 DPA 和茎进行了高通量测序。共鉴定出 2811 个环状 RNA，它们在棉花染色体中分布不均。我们发现 34、142 和 27 个环状 RNA 在 Ligonlintless-1 和野生型之间分别在 0 DPA、8 DPA 和茎中差异表达。环状 RNA-microRNA-mRNA 网络和 MeJA 处理均导致 Ligonlintless-1 和野生型可能强烈表明四种环状 RNA 和 ghr_miR169b 是与纤维发育相关的重要生物分子。该结果为环状 RNA 在调节纤维发育中的假定分子功能提供了新的见解。