Abstract: According to the chicken β-actin gene sequences available in GenBank, a pair of primers was designed for establish a SYBR Green I quantitative real-time PCR method for β-actin gene of chicken. To establish the standard curve, the product of conventional PCR served as a standard. The analysis of melting curve was also carried out. The results show the linear range of Ct value was from 12 to 31 with a good correlation coefficient(r=0.996). The melting curve show a single peak with a 88±0℃ Tm value. The real-time PCR assay developed in this study can detect β-actin in expand range with high efficiency and less time. The assay provide the basis for β-actin gene of chicken as a reference gene in quantitative analysis of mRNA expression.

Key words: chicken; β-actin gene; real-time PCR; reference gene