Selection and Evaluation of Reference Genes for qRT-PCR in (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae).

As an accurate and convenient technique, the qRT-PCR is always used in the quantitative expression analysis of functional genes. Normalization of the data relies on stable reference genes. The fall armyworm (J. E. Smith) is an important invasive and migratory pest that seriously threatens corn production around the world. In this paper, we selected 10 candidate reference genes (, , , , , , , , , and ) and determined their expression levels under different conditions (different developmental stages, various tissues, mating status, hormones, diets, and temperatures). Subsequently, the stability of reference genes was evaluated by four algorithms (Delta Ct method, geNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper). The optimal combination of reference genes for each treatment was obtained by geNorm. Finally, the comprehensive ranks were determined by the online tool RefFinder. Results showed that the most stable reference genes were , , and for developmental stages, , , and for different tissues, , , and for mating status, and under hormone treatment, , , and under diet treatment, , , and under temperature treatment. This study confirmed recent data on a few reference genes and provided an evaluation of a number of additional reference genes of under various conditions.