Identifying stable reference genes for qRT-PCR normalisation in gene expression studies of narrow-leafed lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L)

Candy M. Taylor, Ricarda Jost, William Erskine, Matthew N. Nelson

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

© 2016 Taylor et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Quantitative Reverse Transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) is currently one of the most popular, high-throughput and sensitive technologies available for quantifying gene expression. Its accurate application depends heavily upon normalisation of gene-of-interest data with reference genes that are uniformly expressed under experimental conditions. The aim of this study was to provide the first validation of reference genes for Lupinus angustifolius (narrow-leafed lupin, a significant grain legume crop) using a selection of seven genes previously trialed as reference genes for the model legume, Medicago truncatula. In a preliminary evaluation, the seven candidate reference genes were assessed on the basis of primer specificity for their respective targeted region, PCR amplification efficiency, and ability to discriminate between cDNA and gDNA. Following this assessment, expression of the three most promising candidates [Ubiquitin C (UBC), Helicase (HEL), and Polypyrimidine tract-binding protein (PTB)] was evaluated using the NormFinder and RefFinder statistical algorithms in two narrow-leafed lupin lines, both with and without vernalisation treatment, and across seven organ types (cotyledons, stem, leaves, shoot apical meristem, flowers, pods and roots) encompassing three developmental stages. UBC was consistently identified as the most stable candidate and has sufficiently uniform expression that it may be used as a sole reference gene under the experimental conditions tested here. However, as organ type and developmental stage were associated with greater variability in relative expression, it is recommended using UBC and HEL as a pair to achieve optimal normalisation. These results highlight the importance of rigorously assessing candidate reference genes for each speci
Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0148300
JournalPLoS One
Volume11
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2016

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Identifying stable reference genes for qRT-PCR normalisation in gene expression studies of narrow-leafed lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L)'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this