Cite this paper:
Xiaojuan CHEN, Yun SUN, Panpan ZHANG, Jianlong LI, Haiping LI, Caoying WEI, Zhenjie CAO, Yongcan ZHOU. Screening of stable internal reference genes by quantitative real-time PCR in humpback grouper Cromileptes altivelis[J]. Journal of Oceanology and Limnology, 2021, 39(5): 1985-1999

Screening of stable internal reference genes by quantitative real-time PCR in humpback grouper Cromileptes altivelis

Xiaojuan CHEN1,2, Yun SUN1,2,3, Panpan ZHANG1,2, Jianlong LI1,2,3, Haiping LI2,3, Caoying WEI1,2, Zhenjie CAO1,2,3, Yongcan ZHOU1,2,3
1 State Key Laboratory of Marine Resource Utilization in South China Sea, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China;
2 Key Laboratory of Tropical Hydrobiology and Biotechnology of Hainan Province, Haikou 570228, China;
3 Department of Aquaculture, College of Marine Sciences, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
Abstract:
Humpback grouper Cromileptes altivelis is one commercial fish with considerable economic value. To determine the expression stabilities of six commonly used internal reference genes in C. altivelis challenged by Vibrio harveyi and viral nervous necrosis virus (VNNV) through quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), the expression levels of selected genes in five immune organs stimulated with pathogenic infection were carefully evaluated using algorithms of geNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper. The results show that the expression stabilities of the six candidate internal reference genes were different. Under normal physiological conditions, RPL13 were identified as the most stably expressed genes among five different immune organs (liver, spleen, kidney, intestine, and gill). After V. harveyi stimulation, RPL13, RPL13, EF1A, RPL13, and EF1A were identified by geNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper as the most stable genes in liver, spleen, kidney, intestine, and gill, respectively. Combining these three algorithms suggested that under stimulation of VNNV, RPL13, EF1A, Actin, RPL13, and Actin were as the most stable genes in liver, spleen, kidney, intestine, and gill, respectively. These results suggest that specific experiment conditions and tissue types shall be considered when selecting the reference genes in qRT-PCR analysis. This study provided a solid foundation for future studies on gene expression of C. altivelis under different conditions.
Key words:    Cromileptes altivelis|reference gene|expression stability|pathogenic infection   
Received: 2020-06-21   Revised: 2020-09-18
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Articles by Xiaojuan CHEN
Articles by Yun SUN
Articles by Panpan ZHANG
Articles by Jianlong LI
Articles by Haiping LI
Articles by Caoying WEI
Articles by Zhenjie CAO
Articles by Yongcan ZHOU
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