Reference Genes for RT-qPCR Analysis of Environmentally and Developmentally Regulated Gene Expression in Alfalfa
Read full paper at: http://www.scirp.org/journal/PaperInformation.aspx?PaperID=53242#.VLh5H8nQrzE Author(s) Yves Castonguay , Josée Michaud , Marie-Pier Dubé Affiliation(s) Soils and Crops Research and Development Center, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Québec, Canada . ABSTRACT Reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) is a highly sensitive technique that has become the standard for the analysis of differences in gene expression in response to experimental treatments or among genetic sources. The accuracy of the RT-qPCR results can be significantly affected by uncontrolled sources of variation that can be accounted for normalization with so-called reference genes stably expressed under various conditions. In this study we assessed the stability of 21 reference gene candidates in crowns of two alfalfa cultivars (Apica and Evolution) exposed to various environmental conditions (cold, water stress and photoperiod...