AUTHOR=Yang Mengquan , Wu Shiwen , You Wenjing , Jaisi Amit , Xiao Youli 

TITLE=Selection of Reference Genes for Expression Analysis in Chinese Medicinal Herb Huperzia serrata

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pharmacology

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2019.00044

DOI=10.3389/fphar.2019.00044

ISSN=1663-9812

ABSTRACT=<p>Huperzine A (HupA) is a powerful and selective inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase. It has attracted widespread attention endangering the ultimate plant sources of Lycopodiaceae family. In this study, we used <italic>Huperzia serrata</italic>, extensively used in Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), a slow growing vascular plant as the model plant of the <italic>Lycopodiaceae</italic> family to develop and validate the reference genes. We aim to use gene expression platform to understand the gene expression of different tissues and developmental stages of this medicinal herb. Eight candidate reference genes were selected based on RNA-seq data and evaluated with qRT-PCR. The expression of <italic>L/ODC</italic> and cytochrome P450s genes known for their involvement in lycopodium alkaloid biosynthesis, were also studied to validate the selected reference genes. The most stable genes were <italic>TBP, GAPDH</italic>, and their combination (<italic>TBP</italic> + <italic>GAPDH</italic>). We report for the first time the reference gene of <italic>H. serrata’s</italic> different tissues which would provide important insights into understanding their biological functions comparing other <italic>Lycopodiaceae</italic> plants and facilitate a good biopharming approach.</p>