Evaluation of expression stability of some reference genes in green and red cultivars of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) under abiotic stresses

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Arak Branch, Islamic Azad University, Arak, Iran.

2 Department of Agronomy and Plant Breeding, Khorramabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khorramabad, Iran

3 Department of Agriculture, Kangavar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kangavar, Iran.

Abstract

The Real-time PCR is a very powerful technique for the analysis of gene expression in various organisms. However, normalizing gene expression data and obtaining reliable results largely depends on the selection of stable reference genes. In this study, the expression stability of six general reference genes (EF-1α, 18S rRNA, ACTIN, β-Tubulin, HSP and GAPDH) was investigated in green and red cultivars of sweet basil under five abiotic stresses (cold, drought, heat, salt and light). The stability of these reference genes was analyzed using BestKeeper and NormFinder softwares. Results showed that all reference genes had different expression levels in both green and red cultivars of sweet basil. There was no significant difference in expression between green and red cultivars. The highest and lowest expression levels were calculated for β-Tubulin and 18S rRNA reference genes, respectively. The results of BestKeeper software identified HSP and ACTIN genes as stable reference genes, respectively. The NormFinder software identified β-Tubulin genes as stable reference gene. Final ranking of the results of BestKeeper and NormFinder softwares identified ACTIN gene as the most stable reference gene for the gene expression studies in green and red cultivars of sweet basil using real-time PCR.

Keywords

References

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