AUTHOR=Li Meng-Yao , Song Xiong , Wang Feng , Xiong Ai-Sheng 

TITLE=Suitable Reference Genes for Accurate Gene Expression Analysis in Parsley (Petroselinum crispum) for Abiotic Stresses and Hormone Stimuli

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2016.01481

DOI=10.3389/fpls.2016.01481

ISSN=1664-462X

ABSTRACT=<p>Parsley, one of the most important vegetables in the Apiaceae family, is widely used in the food, medicinal, and cosmetic industries. Recent studies on parsley mainly focus on its chemical composition, and further research involving the analysis of the plant's gene functions and expressions is required. qPCR is a powerful method for detecting very low quantities of target transcript levels and is widely used to study gene expression. To ensure the accuracy of results, a suitable reference gene is necessary for expression normalization. In this study, four software, namely geNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper, and RefFinder were used to evaluate the expression stabilities of eight candidate reference genes of parsley (<italic>GAPDH, ACTIN, eIF-4</italic>α, <italic>SAND, UBC, TIP41, EF-1</italic>α, and <italic>TUB</italic>) under various conditions, including abiotic stresses (heat, cold, salt, and drought) and hormone stimuli treatments (GA, SA, MeJA, and ABA). Results showed that <italic>EF-1</italic>α and <italic>TUB</italic> were the most stable genes for abiotic stresses, whereas <italic>EF-1</italic>α, <italic>GAPDH</italic>, and <italic>TUB</italic> were the top three choices for hormone stimuli treatments. Moreover, <italic>EF-1</italic>α and <italic>TUB</italic> were the most stable reference genes among all tested samples, and <italic>UBC</italic> was the least stable one. Expression analysis of <italic>PcDREB1</italic> and <italic>PcDREB2</italic> further verified that the selected stable reference genes were suitable for gene expression normalization. This study can guide the selection of suitable reference genes in gene expression in parsley.</p>