Identification of reference genes for qRT-PCR studies of gene expression in giant cells and syncytia induced in Arabidopsis thaliana by Meloidogyne incognita and Heterodera schachtii

Nematology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Grundler ◽  
Julia Hofmann

AbstractSedentary plant-parasitic nematodes, such as cyst and root-knot nematodes, induce feeding structures in the host root that undergo extensive changes in the gene expression. This phenomenon has previously been studied by gene chip analysis and qRT-PCR. Housekeeping genes are often used routinely as internal references for relative qRT-PCR analyses. However, due to the strong influence of nematode infection on host cell metabolism and physiology, expression of housekeeping genes may be altered considerably, thus limiting reliability of qRT-PCR analyses. Therefore, in the present work we tested UBQ10, ACT2, EF1a, UBP22 and 18S rRNA as potential candidates for relative qRT-PCR studies of gene expression in nematode infection sites in roots of Arabidopsis thaliana. Among the tested candidates only UBP22 and 18S rRNA were stably expressed and, therefore, are reliable reference genes for studying cyst and root-knot nematode infections.

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joske Ruytinx ◽  
Tony Remans ◽  
Jan V Colpaert

Quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) has become the standard technique for the expression analysis of a set of chosen genes of interest. The accuracy and reliability of qRT-PCR measurements strongly depends on the normalization with appropriate endogenous reference genes. In this study a set of candidate reference genes for the use in gene expression studies of a basidiomycete fungus, Suillus luteus, exposed to toxic concentrations of zinc or cadmium was identified, evaluated and validated. Seven candidate genes were selected from cDNA-AFLP as stably expressed and the algorithms geNorm and Normfinder were used to evaluate these genes alongside the traditionally used housekeeping genes (actin, tubulin) in different S. luteus isolates. The use of several S. luteus isolates revealed that each isolate has its own most stably expressed set of reference genes, regardless of the metal treatments, in casu metal exposures. Metal treatments had only a minor impact on the expression of the candidate reference genes. The validated reference genes outperform the in fungal research commonly used single, arbitrary chosen (“housekeeping”) genes in terms of reliability, and have the potential to be suitable reference genes when studying the effect of other environmental factors. A relatively high number of reference genes is required to correct for intraspecific variability when studying natural populations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Hao Xie ◽  
Bo Li ◽  
Yu Chang ◽  
Xiaoyan Hou ◽  
Yue Zhang ◽  
...  

Reverse transcription quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is an accurate and convenient method for mRNA quantification. Selection of optimal reference gene(s) is an important step in RT-qPCR experiments. However, the stability of housekeeping genes in spinach (Spinacia oleracea) under various abiotic stresses is unclear. Evaluating the stability of candidate genes and determining the optimal gene(s) for normalization of gene expression in spinach are necessary to investigate the gene expression patterns during development and stress response. In this study, ten housekeeping genes, 18S ribosomal RNA (18S rRNA), actin, ADP ribosylation factor (ARF), cytochrome c oxidase subunit 5C (COX), cyclophilin (CYP), elongation factor 1-alpha (EF1α), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), histone H3 (H3), 50S ribosomal protein L2 (RPL2), and tubulin alpha chain (TUBα) from spinach, were selected as candidates in roots, stems, leaves, flowers, and seedlings in response to high temperature, CdCl2, NaCl, NaHCO3, and Na2CO3 stresses. The expression of these genes was quantified by RT-qPCR and evaluated by NormFinder, BestKeeper, and geNorm. 18S rRNA, actin, ARF, COX, CYP, EF1α, GAPDH, H3, and RPL2 were detected as optimal reference genes for gene expression analysis of different organs and stress responses. The results were further confirmed by the expression pattern normalized with different reference genes of two heat-responsive genes. Here, we optimized the detection method of the gene expression pattern in spinach. Our results provide the optimal candidate reference genes which were crucial for RT-qPCR analysis.


Crustaceana ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 91 (10) ◽  
pp. 1195-1210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yabo Fang ◽  
Le Diao ◽  
Fengying Zhang ◽  
Lingbo Ma ◽  
Mengdi Zhao ◽  
...  

Abstract The quantitative real-time transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) is now used widely in studies about mRNA expression levels. The selection of one or more stable reference gene(s) used for data normalization is substantial. In this study, expression levels of eleven candidate reference genes (β-actin, 16S rRNA, 18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, α-I tubulin, GAPDH, ribosomal protein L13, elongation factor 1 α, elongation factor 2, arginine kinase and ubiquitin) were examined using the GenomeLab GeXP analysis system (Beckman Coulter). Gene expression data were analysed using two different statistical models: geNorm and NormFinder. (1) In six different tissues (hepatopancreas, haemocytes, heart, gill, muscle, and testis) from the mud crab, Scylla paramamosain, 18S rRNA and elongation factor 1 α were identified as the two best reference genes. (2) In the haemocytes after being challenged by Vibro parahaemolyticus, the result suggested that ubiquitin was the most stable gene after the treatment. 18S rRNA, elongation factor 1 α and ubiquitin are herein recommended as the best combination. These results provide useful options for reference gene selection under different experimental conditions in qRT-PCR studies in the mud crab.


PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e6834
Author(s):  
Teizhu Yang ◽  
Bingning Gu ◽  
Guolyu Xu ◽  
Yanmei Shi ◽  
Heding Shen ◽  
...  

Real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) is an undeniably effective tool for measuring levels of gene expression, but the accuracy and reliability of the statistical data obtained depend mainly on the basal expression of selected housekeeping genes in many samples. To date, there have been few analyses of stable housekeeping genes in Onchidium reevesii under salinity stress and injury. In this study, the gene expression stabilities of seven commonly used housekeeping genes, CYC, RPL28S, ACTB, TUBB, EF1a, Ubiq and 18S RNA, were investigated using BestKeeper, geNorm, NormFinder and RefFinfer. Although the results of the four programs varied to some extent, in general, RPL28S, TUBB, ACTB and EF1a were ranked highly. ACTB and TUBB were found to be the most stable housekeeping genes under salinity stress, and EF1a plus TUBB was the most stable combination under injury stress. When analysing target gene expression in different tissues, RPL28S or EF1a should be selected as the reference gene according to the level of target gene expression. Under extreme environmental stress (salinity) conditions, ACTB (0 ppt, 5 ppt, 15 ppt, 25 ppt) and TUBB (35 ppt) are reasonable reference gene choices when expression stability and abundance are considered. Under conditions of 15 ppt salinity and injury stress, our results showed that the best two-gene combination was TUBB plus EF1a. Therefore, we suggest that RPL28S, ACTB and TUBB are suitable reference genes for evaluating mRNA transcript levels. Based on candidate gene expression analysis, the tolerance of O. reevesii to low salinity (low osmotic pressure) is reduced compared to its tolerance to high salinity (high osmotic pressure). These findings will help researchers obtain accurate results in future quantitative gene expression analyses of O. reevesii under other stress conditions.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhezhi Wang ◽  
Wen Zhou ◽  
Lei Yang ◽  
Yan Sun ◽  
Qian Zhang ◽  
...  

Hypericum perforatum is a widely known medicinal herb used mostly as a remedy for depression because of its abundant secondary metabolites. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) is an optimized method for the efficient and reliable quantification of gene expression studies. In general, reference genes are used in qRT-PCR analysis because of their known or suspected housekeeping roles. However, their expression level cannot be assumed to remain stable under all possible experimental conditions. Thus, the identification of high quality reference genes is very necessary for the interpretation of qRT-PCR data. In this study, we investigated the expression of fourteen candidate genes, including nine housekeeping genes and five potential candidate genes. Additionally, the HpHYP1 gene, belonging to the PR-10 family associated with stress control, was used for validation of the candidate reference genes. Three programs were applied to evaluate the gene expression stability across four different plant tissues, three developmental stages and a set of abiotic stress and hormonal treatments. The candidate genes showed a wide range of Ct values in all samples, indicating that they are differentially expressed. Integrating all of the algorithms and evaluations, ACT2 and TUB-β were the most stable combination overall and for different developmental stages samples. Moreover, ACT2 and EF1-α were considered to be the two most applicable reference genes for different tissues and for stress samples. Majority of the conventional housekeeping genes exhibited better than the potential reference genes. The obtained results will contribute to improving credibility of standardization and quantification of transcription levels in future expression research of H. perforatum.


PeerJ ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. e1347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoping Niu ◽  
Jianmin Qi ◽  
Meixia Chen ◽  
Gaoyang Zhang ◽  
Aifen Tao ◽  
...  

Kenaf (Hibiscus cannabinus) is an economic and ecological fiber crop but suffers severe losses in fiber yield and quality under the stressful conditions of excess salinity and drought. To explore the mechanisms by which kenaf responds to excess salinity and drought, gene expression was performed at the transcriptomic level using RNA-seq. Thus, it is crucial to have a suitable set of reference genes to normalize target gene expression in kenaf under different conditions using real-time quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR). In this study, we selected 10 candidate reference genes from the kenaf transcriptome and assessed their expression stabilities by qRT-PCR in 14 NaCl- and PEG-treated samples using geNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper. The results indicated thatTUBαand 18S rRNA were the optimum reference genes under conditions of excess salinity and drought in kenaf. Moreover,TUBαand 18S rRNA were used singly or in combination as reference genes to validate the expression levels of WRKY28 and WRKY32 in NaCl- and PEG-treated samples by qRT-PCR. The results further proved the reliability of the two selected reference genes. This work will benefit future studies on gene expression and lead to a better understanding of responses to excess salinity and drought in kenaf.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joske Ruytinx ◽  
Tony Remans ◽  
Jan V Colpaert

Quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) has become the standard technique for the expression analysis of a set of chosen genes of interest. The accuracy and reliability of qRT-PCR measurements strongly depends on the normalization with appropriate endogenous reference genes. In this study a set of candidate reference genes for the use in gene expression studies of a basidiomycete fungus, Suillus luteus, exposed to toxic concentrations of zinc or cadmium was identified, evaluated and validated. Seven candidate genes were selected from cDNA-AFLP as stably expressed and the algorithms geNorm and Normfinder were used to evaluate these genes alongside the traditionally used housekeeping genes (actin, tubulin) in different S. luteus isolates. The use of several S. luteus isolates revealed that each isolate has its own most stably expressed set of reference genes, regardless of the metal treatments, in casu metal exposures. Metal treatments had only a minor impact on the expression of the candidate reference genes. The validated reference genes outperform the in fungal research commonly used single, arbitrary chosen (“housekeeping”) genes in terms of reliability, and have the potential to be suitable reference genes when studying the effect of other environmental factors. A relatively high number of reference genes is required to correct for intraspecific variability when studying natural populations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olaf Kranse ◽  
Helen Beasley ◽  
Sally Adams ◽  
Andre Pires-daSilva ◽  
Christopher Bell ◽  
...  

Abstract Plant-parasitic nematodes are a continuing threat to food security, causing an estimated 100 billion USD in crop losses each year. The most problematic are the obligate sedentary endoparasites (primarily root knot nematodes and cyst nematodes). Progress in understanding their biology is held back by a lack of tools for functional genetics: forward genetics is largely restricted to studies of natural variation in populations and reverse genetics is entirely reliant on RNA interference. There is an expectation that the development of functional genetic tools would accelerate the progress of research on plant-parasitic nematodes, and hence the development of novel control solutions. Here, we develop some of the foundational biology required to deliver a functional genetic tool kit in plant-parasitic nematodes. We characterize the gonads of male Heterodera schachtii and Meloidogyne hapla in the context of spermatogenesis. We test and optimize various methods for the delivery, expression, and/or detection of exogenous nucleic acids in plant-parasitic nematodes. We demonstrate that delivery of macromolecules to cyst and root knot nematode male germlines is difficult, but possible. Similarly, we demonstrate the delivery of oligonucleotides to root knot nematode gametes. Finally, we develop a transient expression system in plant-parasitic nematodes by demonstrating the delivery and expression of exogenous mRNA encoding various reporter genes throughout the body of H. schachtii juveniles using lipofectamine-based transfection. We anticipate these developments to be independently useful, will expedite the development of genetic modification tools for plant-parasitic nematodes, and ultimately catalyze research on a group of nematodes that threaten global food security.


2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 3395-3407 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Fernández-Aparicio ◽  
K. Huang ◽  
E. K. Wafula ◽  
L. A. Honaas ◽  
N. J. Wickett ◽  
...  

PeerJ ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. e3840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming-An Tsai ◽  
I-Hua Chen ◽  
Jiann-Hsiung Wang ◽  
Shih-Jen Chou ◽  
Tsung-Hsien Li ◽  
...  

Cytokines are fundamental for a functioning immune system, and thus potentially serve as important indicators of animal health. Quantitation of mRNA using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) is an established immunological technique. It is particularly suitable for detecting the expression of proteins against which monoclonal antibodies are not available. In this study, we developed a probe-based quantitative gene expression assay for immunological assessment of captive beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) that is one of the most common cetacean species on display in aquariums worldwide. Six immunologically relevant genes (IL-2Rα, -4, -10, -12, TNFα, and IFNγ) were selected for analysis, and two validated housekeeping genes (PGK1 and RPL4) with stable expression were used as reference genes. Sixteen blood samples were obtained from four animals with different health conditions and stored in RNAlater™ solution. These samples were used for RNA extraction followed by qRT-PCR analysis. Analysis of gene transcripts was performed by relative quantitation using the comparative Cq method with the integration of amplification efficiency and two reference genes. The expression levels of each gene in the samples from clinically healthy animals were normally distributed. Transcript outliers for IL-2Rα, IL-4, IL-12, TNFα, and IFNγ were noticed in four samples collected from two clinically unhealthy animals. This assay has the potential to identify immune system deviation from normal state, which is caused by health problems. Furthermore, knowing the immune status of captive cetaceans could help both trainers and veterinarians in implementing preventive approaches prior to disease onset.


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