*2.6. Validation of Candidate Reference Genes by RT-qPCR*

The NAC and ERF transcription factors function as central switches of growth, development and various abiotic/biotic stress responses in plants [44–48]. Hence, *LmNAC83* and *LmERF60* genes were selected as targets to determine the reliability of the most stable and unstable reference genes. The primers for these two genes are shown in Supplementary Table S2. The expression levels of these genes were calculated using the 2−ΔΔCt method [35]. The RT-qPCR analysis was carried out using RNA from three biological replicates.
