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Evaluation of reference genes for studies of gene expression in the bovine liver, kidney, pituitary, and thyroid

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Abstract

Expression patterns of candidate genes with important functions in animal metabolism can help to identify potential molecular markers for cattle production traits. Reverse transcription followed by polymerase chain reaction is a method for rapid and accurate mRNA quantification. However, for exact comparison of mRNA quantity in various samples or tissues, it is important to choose appropriate reference genes. In cattle, little information is available on the expression stability of housekeeping genes (HKGs). The aim of the present study is to develop a set of reference genes that can be used for normalization of concentrations of mRNAs of genes expressed in the bovine liver, kidney, pituitary and thyroid. The study was performed on 6-, 9-, and 12-month-old bulls of dairy and meat cattle breeds. Six HKGs were investigated:ACTB, GAPDH, HPRTI, SDHA, TBP, andYWHAZ. The most stably expressed potential reference HKGs differed among tissues/organs examined:ACTB, TBP, YWHAZ, GAPDH, HPR TI, andSDHA in the liver;GAPDH andYWHAZ in the kidney;GAPDH andSDHA in the pituitary; andTBP andHPRTI in the thyroid. The results showed that the use of a single gene fornormalization may lead to relatively large errors, so it is important to use multiple control genes based on a survey of potential reference genes applied to representative samples from specific experimental conditions.

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Author notes

  1. Chandra S. Pareek

    Present address: Laboratory of Functional Genomics, Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences, Institute of General and Molecular Biology, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Torun, Poland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Biology, Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding, Polish Academy of Sciences, Jastrzębiec, Postępu 1, 05-552, Wólka Kosowska

    Paweł Lisowski & Lech Zwierzchowski

  2. Department of Animal Immunogenetics, Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding, Polish Academy of Sciences, Jastrzębiec, Poland

    Mariusz Pierzchała

  3. Department of Software Engineering, Faculty of Computer Science, Białystok Technical University, Białystok, Poland

    Joanna Gościk

  4. Department of Animal Genetics, University of Warmia and Mazury, Olsztyn, Poland

    Chandra S. Pareek

Authors
  1. Paweł Lisowski
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  2. Mariusz Pierzchała
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  3. Joanna Gościk
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  4. Chandra S. Pareek
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  5. Lech Zwierzchowski
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Correspondence to Paweł Lisowski.

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Lisowski, P., Pierzchała, M., Gościk, J. et al. Evaluation of reference genes for studies of gene expression in the bovine liver, kidney, pituitary, and thyroid. J Appl Genet 49, 367–372 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03195635

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03195635

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