Evaluation of reference genes for quantitative real-time PCR to investigate protein disulfide isomerase transcription pattern in the bovine lungworm Dictyocaulus viviparus

Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) is the most sensitive technique for transcript quantification provided that gene transcription patterns are normalized to an evaluated reference gene. For Dictyocaulus viviparus, the housekeeping genes β-tubulin, β-actin, elongation factor 1α (ef-1α), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphatase dehydrogenase (gapdh), and 60S ribosomal protein L37a (60S rpL37a) were characterized and evaluated. Evaluation using the geNorm software revealed ef-1α and β-tubulin as the most suitable reference genes, whereas the coefficient of variation approach resulted in ef-1α and 60S rpL37a as transcripts with the least variation among 12 developmental lungworm stages. The critical influence of reference genes on qPCR data analysis, with the possible consequence of erroneous, misleading results due to inappropriate reference genes used for data normalization, is shown for protein disulfide isomerase 2 (pdi-2) transcription patterns. Proper normalization of pdi-2 transcription using ef-1α and β-tubulin as reference genes resulted in a more than 7-fold enriched pdi-2 transcription in L1 compared to that in eggs, and a dramatic decrease in L3. Following an increase in the L5 stage there is again a decrease of pdi-2 transcription in adult lungworms. These fluctuations in the transcription levels reflect the requirement of cuticule collagen during bovine lungworm development.