Abstract: Fat deposition ability is one of the important factors affecting the lean meat rate,slaughter rate and meat quality of pigs,and the regulatory mechanism of fat deposition involves complex biological processes,among which epigenetic regulators such as non-coding RNA (ncRNA) play a key role.Circular RNA (circRNA) is a covalently closed circular ncRNA existing in eukaryotes,it is relatively conservative and spatiotemporally specific,with rich and diverse action pathways,and is widely involved in various biological processes such as cell proliferation and apoptosis,gene transcription,cancer occurrence and nervous system diseases.In recent years,more and more studies have shown that circRNA plays an important regulatory role in the deposition of subcutaneous,intramuscular and visceral fat in pigs,but most studies are still in the initial stage of discovery and identification,and the specific mechanisms of many upstream and downstream pathways of circRNA are still unclear.At present,circRNA mainly controls the expression of fat deposition-related genes through the molecular sponge mechanism of miRNA,affects lipid metabolism,promotes or inhibits the proliferation and differentiation of adipocytes,and regulates fat deposition in pigs.Based on an overview of the classification and function of adipose tissue,key genes regulating fat deposition,and the biogenesis and function of circRNA,this paper systematically reviews and summarizes the research progress on circRNA regulating fat deposition of pigs at home and abroad,in order to provide a reference for further exploration of the mechanism of pig fat deposition.

Key words: pigs; circRNA; fat deposition