CropCircDB

CropCircDB provides a curated database of circular RNAs (circRNAs) in maize and rice focused on their responses to abiotic stress.

Key Features:

• Extensive Data Collection: Systematic analysis of large-scale RNA-Seq datasets identified 38,785 circRNAs in maize and 63,048 circRNAs in rice from 244 maize and 288 rice RNA-Seq samples.
• Stress Detection Metric: Implements a "stress detection score" metric to detect circRNAs associated with abiotic stress conditions.
• Dynamic Expression Profiles: Provides dynamic expression profiles of circRNAs across all analyzed samples to assess expression changes under stress.
• Comprehensive Repository: Hosts both predicted and validated circRNAs responsive to abiotic stress with annotations relevant to miRNA sponge activity.

Scientific Applications:

• CircRNA cataloging: Provides a reference set of circRNAs in maize and rice for studies of circRNA biology.
• Abiotic stress response analysis: Enables identification of circRNAs associated with abiotic stress using the stress detection score and expression profiles.
• miRNA sponge and mRNA regulation studies: Supports investigation of circRNAs acting as miRNA sponges and mediating mRNA expression.
• Crop molecular mechanism research: Facilitates research into molecular mechanisms underlying plant responses to environmental stresses in crops such as maize and rice.

Methodology:

Analyzed 244 maize and 288 rice RNA-Seq samples to identify circRNAs (38,785 maize; 63,048 rice) and computed a "stress detection score" to detect stress-responsive circRNAs; the database includes predicted and validated circRNAs.