Selection and validation of reference genes for RT-qPCR in adipose and longissimus dorsi muscle tissues of buffalo

Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) is widely used to measure and evaluate gene expression. The precision and reliability of RT-qPCR are critically dependent on the selection of suitable reference genes (RGs). In this study, an effort was made to identify the optimal RGs for RT-qPCR analysis of adipose and the longissimus dorsi muscle (LM) in buffaloes. RNA sequencing data were firstly analyzed to obtain 10 candidate genes (FKBP1A, C25H16orf72, PNRC2, IQGAP1, ATP5PD, RPL6, NDUFB4, TRA2A, CAPRIN1, and METAP2) that with high and stable expression across adipose tissues. Four other identified RGs (GAPDH, ACTB, TOP2B, and UXT) were selected as well. The expression stability of the candidate RGs was evaluated by three algorithms (geNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper) and then further validated by adipocyte and myocyte markers. Our results showed that UXT and TOP2B were the optimal RGs for RT-qPCR analysis across adipose tissues in buffaloes; three RGs, RPL6, UXT, and TOP2B, were the optimal RGs for RT-qPCR analysis across adipose and the LM tissues in buffaloes. This study provides significant information for improving the accuracy of gene expression in research on intramuscular fat deposition in buffaloes.