Selection and Validation of Reference Genes in Virus-Infected Sweet Potato Plants.

Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) in sweet potatoes requires accurate data normalization; however, there are insufficient studies on appropriate reference genes for gene expression analysis. We examined variations in the expression of eight candidate reference genes in the leaf and root tissues of sweet potatoes (eight nonvirus-infected or eight virus-infected samples). Parallel analyses with geNorm, NormFinder, and Best-Keeper show that different viral infections and origin tissues affect the expression levels of these genes. Based on the results of the evaluation of the three software, the is suitable for nonvirus or virus-infected sweet potato leaves. and extension proteins are suitable for nonvirus-infected sweet potato leaves. is suitable for virus-infected sweet potato leaves. is suitable for roots of nonvirus-infected sweet potatoes. is suitable for virus-infected sweet potato roots. The research provides appropriate reference genes for further analysis in leaf and root samples of viruses in sweet potatoes.