Yu Wang, Zhong-Kang Wang, Yi Huang, Yu-Feng Liao, You-Ping Yin
Journal of Insect Science 14 (94), 1-10, (1 July 2014) https://doi.org/10.1673/031.014.94
KEYWORDS: cantharidin, normalization
The blister beetle Mylabris cichorii L. (Coleoptera: Meloidae) is a traditional medicinal insect recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. It synthesizes cantharidin, which kills cancer cells efficiently. Only males produce large amounts of cantharidin. Reference genes are required as endogenous controls for the analysis of differential gene expression in M. cichorii. Our study chose 10 genes as candidate reference genes. The stability of expression of these genes was analyzed by quantitative PCR and determined with two algorithms, geNorm and Normfinder. We recommend UBE3A and RPL22e as suitable reference genes in females and UBE3A, TAF5, and RPL22e in males.