Selection of relatively exact reference genes for gene expression studies in flixweed (Descurainia sophia) by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction.

The reliable gene expression analysis of a reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) mainly depends on selecting suitable reference genes that can express stably under different experimental conditions. Thus far, no reference genes have been identified in flixweed. In this paper, 7 supposed reference genes were selected to evaluate their expression stabilities by qRT-PCR in flixweed under three conditions including different sampling times after tribenuron treatment, different organs, and different growth stages using geNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper statistical algorithms. The results showed that ACT7, UBC and 18SrRNA were the stable reference genes in all of the tested samples. ACT7 and UBC showed high stability in different sampling times after the tribenuron treatment. UBC and 18SrRNA were the most suitable genes for different organs and growth stages. This work confirmed the suitable reference genes of flixweed for a relatively accurate gene expression analysis under different experimental conditions.