Jatropha curcas L represent a potential source of raw material for the production of biodiesel. The aim this study was to find potential candidate reference genes in J. curcas tissues. Three softwares were utilized to verify which would be the most stable reference genes in qPCR assay: GeNorm, NormFinder and BestKeeper. The most stable reference genes in developing J. curcas seeds suggested by GeNorm were GAPDH, UCP, actin. However, the best combinations of stable genes in each tissue were identified separately under stress conditions: EF1-α, PP2A2 and GAPDH in total stress, however, in SA stress, four genes were required for normalization: PP2A2, EF1-α, GAPDH and PUB. In PEG stress, four genes also were required: PP2A2, EF1-α, GAPDH and PUB, while in NaCl stress, five genes were necessary: PP2A2, GAPDH, EF1-α, PUB and Tβ2. These results are in accordance with two other programs used in this study (NormFinder, BestKeeper). In addition, the transcript levels of Jc-SRG-2 seem to be more correlated with stress responses than changes in transcript levels of Jc-SRG-1, mainly of leaves in exposure to 3-12 h on PEG and NaCl stress. Taken together, GAPDH and PP2A2 were regarded as being the best reference to provide guidelines for the selection of potential references genes under these study conditions.

Plantas de batata, cv. Baronesa, resistentes ao PVY foram obtidas mediante transformação genética com gene que codifica para a proteína do capsídeo do vírus. O presente trabalho teve por objetivo comparar os atributos morfológicos e os componentes de produção da cv. Baronesa e de suas plantas geneticamente modificadas, em condições de casa de vegetação. Desse modo, a altura da parte aérea, comprimento da raiz e número médio de folhas foram determinados em seis épocas a intervalos regulares de 14 dias após o plantio, enquanto, volume, comprimento, largura e massa fresca dos tubérculos foram medidos na colheita final, aos 84 dias após o plantio. Não houve diferenças estatísticas significativas entre os dois genótipos, no que concerne aos atributos morfológicos e nem nos componentes de produção.

The aim of this paper was to compare the morphological attributes and production components of the wild-type Baronesa cultivar potato with those of Baronesa potato plants that have been genetically modified using the potato virus Y coat protein (CP) gene. The experiment was conducted under greenhouse conditions (Biosecurity Quality Certificate n. 081/98 issued by the National Biosecurity Technical Committee) at the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel), Pelotas-RS. The shoot and root lengths and the mean leaf number were determined six times at 14-day intervals after sowing; the length, width and fresh weight of the tubers were measured during the last harvest, which occurred 84 days after sowing. There were no statistical differences between the two genotypes with respect to morphological attributes or production components.