Comparison of two reference genes (GAPGH and EF1α) expression in medicinal pumpkin plant (Cucurbita pepo L.) during spermine pretreatment and salt stress

One of the first effects of various stresses is related Changes in gene expression. So, the study of the effect of stress on gene expression is of special importance. The analysis of gene expression requires precise and reproducible measurements for quantitative or semi-quantitative mRNA level. For normalization of the data, the selection of suitable internal control (reference or housekeeping) genes, whose expression do not fluctuate during treatments is important. The GAPDH and EF1α genes are used as reference genes in many studies. In this study, the expression of two reference genes under spermine (0 and 0.1 mM) pretreatment, salinity (0 and 80 mM NaCl), and the stability of their expression in leaves and roots of pumpkin were investigated. Study of the reference genes expression showed that the expression of GAPDH gene varied in both different organs and under salinity stress and spm application, but EF1α gene has more stable expression than GAPDH gene in the roots and leaves. Therefore, the results of this study suggest that GAPDH plays an important role in salt stress tolerance in pumpkin, and also EF1α, can be used as suitable reference gene for normalization of gene expression analysis in pumpkin under salinity stress.