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Selection of reliable reference genes for gene expression studies in Caenorhabditis elegans exposed to crystals (Cry1Ia36) protein of Bacillus thuringiensis

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Abstract

Quantitative real time PCR (qRT-PCR) is a nucleic acid quantitative technique and is also considered as a validation tool. The Cry1Ia36 protein isolated from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) strain YC-10 has high nematicidal activity against nematodes. Caenorhabditis elegans is one of the major model organisms and a readily accessible source of biological material for gene expression studies. To evaluate the expression stability of 12 candidate reference genes of C. elegans for exposing to different concentrations of Cry1Ia36 protein and different treat time, five statistical approaches (the comparative delta-Ct method, BestKeeper, NormFinder, Genorm and RefFinder) were used to evaluate each individual candidate reference gene. The results indicated that cdc-42 and F35G12.2 were the best reference genes for performing reliable gene expression normalization in the impact of Cry1Ia36 protein. In addition, when C. elegans was exposed to Cry1Ia36 protein and other nematicides, avermectin and 5-aminolevulinic acid, cdc-42 was recommended as the most reliable reference genes. Y45F10D.4 was the least stable reference genes in our experimental settings. Therefore, cdc-42 was reliable reference gene for gene expression studies in C. elegans exposed to Cry1Ia36 protein and other nematicides.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFD0201208), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31871941) and the Hunan Province Key Research and Development Program (2016NK2196).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Plant Protection, Hunan Academy of Agricultural Science, Changsha, 410125, China

    Dongwei Wang, Yong Liu, Deyong Zhang, Qingcong He, Bei Tang & Feixue Cheng

  2. Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of the Pests and Diseases on Horticultural Crops in Hunan Province, Changsha, 410125, China

    Dongwei Wang, Yong Liu, Deyong Zhang & Feixue Cheng

  3. Long Ping Branch, Graduate School of Hunan University, Hunan University, Changsha, 410125, China

    Qingcong He & Bei Tang

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  1. Dongwei Wang
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Wang, D., Liu, Y., Zhang, D. et al. Selection of reliable reference genes for gene expression studies in Caenorhabditis elegans exposed to crystals (Cry1Ia36) protein of Bacillus thuringiensis. Mol Biol Rep 46, 5767–5776 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-019-05010-3

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