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Reference genes selection of Paeonia ostii ‘Fengdan’ under osmotic stresses and hormone treatments by RT-qPCR

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Abstract

Background

Tree peony possess significant ornamental, medicinal and oil values. Osmotic stresses including dehydratiuon and salinity limit the expansion of cultivation area of tree peony. Information on reference genes selection under osmotic stress and hormone stimulation of tree peony still limited. This study aimed to determine the stable reference genes suitable for tree peony under osmotic stresses and hormone treatments, and provide a theoretical basis for the molecular biology research.

Methods and results

Twelve candidate reference genes were evaluated in Paeonia ostii ‘Fengdan’ under osmotic stress and hormone treatments by RT-qPCR. Delta Ct method, geNorm, and NormFinder were used for the comprehensive expression stability ranking comparison. The results revealed that tubulin-α was the preferred internal reference genes for drought and ABA treatment, tubulin-β was identified as the most suitable reference gene under drought and OPDA induction, 18s-rRNA was regarded as the most stable gene for salinity and JA treatment, eIF-5 A was listed as the most stable gene for JA and MeJA treatments. The experiments also displayed that EF1-α were comparatively unstable under ABA and BR hormone treatments.

Conclusion

These preferred reference genes could be useful in qPCR studies involving osmotic or hormonal stresses in Paeonia ostii ‘Fengdan’. It is anticipated that the results will benefit tree peony functional genomics studies and molecular breeding research in the future.

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Funding

This work was supported by [National Natural Science Foundation of China](Grant number [U1804233]), [Outstanding Youth Fund Project of Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province](Grant number [202300410119]), [the Colleges and Universities Science and Technology Innovation Talent Support Plan of Henan Province](Grant number [22HASTIT036]), and [Central Plains Academics of Henan Province, China](Grant number [212101510003]).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Tree Peony, Henan University of Science and Technology, Luoyang, Henan, China

    Lili Guo, Yuying Li, Zhenzhen Wei, Can Wang & Xiaogai Hou

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  1. Lili Guo
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  2. Yuying Li
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  3. Zhenzhen Wei
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  4. Can Wang
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Contributions

Lili Guo contributed to the conceptualization, investigation, writing, reviewing, and editing. Yuying Li contributed to the material preparation, methodology and data curation. Zhenzhen Wei contributed to the original draft preparation. Can Wang contributed to the manuscript editing. Xiaogai Hou contributed to the supervision and funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Xiaogai Hou.

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Guo, L., Li, Y., Wei, Z. et al. Reference genes selection of Paeonia ostii ‘Fengdan’ under osmotic stresses and hormone treatments by RT-qPCR. Mol Biol Rep 50, 133–143 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-022-07938-5

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