Section: New Results

New circular RNAs identified in Pyrococcus abyssi

We contributed a new method for the detection of circRNAs, which we validated on simulated data, and used to analyze the transcriptome of Pyrococcus abyssi, an archae living at high depth and temperature [1]. Using this method, which was shown to produce less false positives than previous computational approaches, we analyzed data produced in collaboration with LOB (Ecole Polytechnique), and detected roughly a hundred of novel candidates circular RNAs. Moreover, we provided evidence, on a large scale, that the protein Pab1020 acts as a ligase, and interacts with some of these circular RNAs, shedding new light on the mechanisms underlying the circularization process.