Validation of Suitable Reference Genes for Gene Expression Studies on Yak Testis Development.
Xuelan Zhou, Xiaoyun Wu, Min Chu, Chunnian Liang, Xuezhi Ding, Jie Pei, Lin Xiong, Pengjia Bao, Xian Guo, Ping Yan
Author Information
Xuelan Zhou: Key Laboratory of Yak Breeding Engineering, Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730050, China.
Xiaoyun Wu: Key Laboratory of Yak Breeding Engineering, Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730050, China.
Min Chu: Key Laboratory of Yak Breeding Engineering, Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730050, China.
Chunnian Liang: Key Laboratory of Yak Breeding Engineering, Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730050, China.
Xuezhi Ding: Key Laboratory of Yak Breeding Engineering, Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730050, China.
Jie Pei: Key Laboratory of Yak Breeding Engineering, Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730050, China.
Lin Xiong: Key Laboratory of Yak Breeding Engineering, Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730050, China.
Pengjia Bao: Key Laboratory of Yak Breeding Engineering, Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730050, China.
Xian Guo: Key Laboratory of Yak Breeding Engineering, Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730050, China.
Ping Yan: Key Laboratory of Yak Breeding Engineering, Lanzhou Institute of Husbandry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730050, China.
Testis has an important function in male reproduction. Its development is regulated by a large number of genes. The real-time reserve transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is a useful tool to evaluate the gene expression levels. However, unsuitable reference genes (RGs) can cause the misinterpretation of gene expression levels. Unfortunately, the ideal RGs for yak testis development are yet to be studied. In this study, 13 commonly used RGs were selected to identify the most stable RGs in yak testis at four different developmental stages, including two immature stages (6 months and 18 months) and two mature stages (30 months and 6 years). This study used GeNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper, ∆, and RefFinder programs to evaluate the stability of 13 candidate genes. The results of RefFinder showed that the stabilities of TATA box-binding protein () and ubiquitously expressed transcript protein () were ranked the top two across all developmental stages. and hydroxymethylbilane synthase () were stably expressed in immature stages, while mitochondrial ribosomal protein L39 () and had higher stability than other candidate genes in mature stages. This study provided valuable information for gene expression studies to assist further investigation on the molecular mechanisms in underlying yak testis development.
