Selection of Suitable Reference Genes for RT-qPCR Gene Expression Analysis in Centipedegrass under Different Abiotic Stress.

As a C4 warm-season turfgrass, centipedegrass ( (Munro) Hack.) is known for its exceptional resilience to intensive maintenance practices. In this research, the most stably expressed reference genes in the leaves of centipedegrass under different stress treatments, including salt, cold, drought, aluminum (Al), and herbicide, were screened by the quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) technique. The stability of 13 candidate reference genes was evaluated by software GeNorm V3.4, NormFinder V20, BestKeeper V1.0, and ReFinder V1.0. The results of this experiment demonstrated that the expression of the () remained the most stable under cold and Al stress conditions. On the other hand, the () gene exhibited the best performance in leaf tissues subjected to salt and drought stresses. Under herbicide stress, the expression level of the () gene ranked the highest. The expression levels of abiotic stress-associated genes such as , , , , and were assessed to validate the reliability of the selected reference genes. This study provides valuable information and reference points for gene expression under abiotic stress conditions in centipedegrass.