qRT-PCR validations of expression levels of candidate genes from DGE analysis.

<p>Expression levels by qRT-PCR of selected candidate genes of herbaceous peony cultivars ‘Dafugui’ and ‘Zifengyu’ were validated from the levels of DGE data. The corresponding genes is specified above each map. The Y axis represents normalized log₂ value of gene expression levels. The X axis represents the comparisons of different stages. “S2/S1” indicates a comparison of gene expression levels between S1 and S2. “S3/S1” and “S4/S1” indicate analogous comparisons. S1: May 25, S2: June 15, S3: July 5, S4: July 25. Error bars represent the standard deviations of three biological replications, while the lowercase letters over the bars indicate significant differences (<i>P</i><0.05).