“…circRNAs regulate gene expression in animals through different mechanisms, such as miRNA sponges, specific RNA-RNA interactions, and affecting alternative splicing . Since the identification of their roles in regulating gene expression in animals (Memczak et al, 2013), circRNAs have also been identified in different plant species, including Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), rice, wheat (Triticum aestivum), barley (Hordeum vulgare), maize (Zea mays), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), potato (Solanum tuberosum), soybean (Glycine max), cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), and kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa; Wang et al, 2014Wang et al, , 2017bWang et al, , 2017cLu et al, 2015;Ye et al, 2015Ye et al, , 2017Darbani et al, 2016;Zuo et al, 2016;Chen et al, 2017Chen et al, , 2018Zhao et al, 2017).…”