In silico mining of banana circular RNAs in response to biotic andabiotic stress: Classification and their distribution on genome

Banana (Musa spp.) is highly susceptible to a range of abiotic and biotic stresses, leading to significant reductions in yield and productivity. Recent advances in molecular biology have highlighted the critical roles of non-coding RNAs in the regulation of gene expression and stress adaptation in plants. Among these, circular RNAs (circRNAs)—a class of covalently closed, stable RNA molecules—have emerged as important regulators of diverse biological processes, including plant stress responses. In the present study, circRNAs were systematically identified from transcriptome datasets of Musa acuminata subjected to various abiotic (cold, salt, osmotic and drought) and biotic (Mycosphaerella sp. and Fusarium sp.) stress conditions. A total of 1,114 circRNAs were identified under abiotic stress and 497 circRNAs under biotic stress. Notably, a high proportion of these circRNAs originated from intergenic regions, accounting for 80.7% (900) and 90.74% (451) of total circRNAs under abiotic and biotic stress, respectively. Chromosomal distribution analysis of abiotic and biotic circRNAs showed statistically significant variation across the 11 chromosomes of banana as determined by the Kolmogorov–Smirnov (K–S) test (0.75). These findings provide a foundational resource for understanding the landscape of stress-responsive circRNAs in banana. Further functional characterization and validation studiesare warranted to elucidate their precise regulatory roles in stress tolerance mechanisms.