Stored potato tubers are susceptible to pathogens, such as Potato virus Y, and studies of host/pathogen interactions on a gene transcription level can provide insight into the disease development. A method for studying individual gene expression is reverse trancription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) that relies on utilization of reference genes. To select appropriate reference genes with stable expression in our experimental setting, we screened the genome-wide microarray expression data for suitable candidate reference genes rather than to use generally recognised constitutively expressed housekeeping genes as reference genes. Four highly expressed genes with stable expression across several comparisons were selected based on microarray data. Stable expression of these candidate reference genes (Nicalin, Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 5A, Universal stress protein and Katanin p60 ATPase-containing subunit) was confirmed using RT-qPCR. Our candidate reference genes were more suitable than housekeeping genes often used as reference genes. Additionally, microarray expression data was evaluated for eight previously reported reference genes.

储存的马铃薯块茎容易受到病原体的影响，例如马铃薯 Y 病毒，在基因转录水平上研究宿主/病原体相互作用可以提供对疾病发展的深入了解。研究个体基因表达的一种方法是逆转录定量聚合酶链反应 (RT-qPCR)，它依赖于参考基因的利用。为了在我们的实验环境中选择具有稳定表达的合适参考基因，我们筛选了全基因组微阵列表达数据以寻找合适的候选参考基因，而不是使用通常公认的组成型表达的管家基因作为参考基因。基于微阵列数据选择了在多次比较中具有稳定表达的四种高表达基因。这些候选参考基因（尼卡林、真核翻译起始因子 5A、通用应激蛋白和含 Katanin p60 ATP 酶的亚基）使用 RT-qPCR 进行确认。我们的候选参考基因比经常用作参考基因的看家基因更合适。此外，还评估了八个先前报告的参考基因的微阵列表达数据。