PATRA: a divergent, cross-continental hammerhead viroid-like circular RNA from wastewater metatranscriptomes

PATRA is a divergent putatively circular RNA identified across independent wastewater metatranscriptomes from four countries. Its distinctive sequence architecture, conserved hammerhead-like region and divergence from previously catalogued viroid-like elements provide evidence of an unexplored component of environmental RNA diversity. Its molecular identity and biological properties remain subjects for further investigation.