17 H. Zhang W. Zhang S. Wei Y. Xiong X. Meng Z. Zhang Y. Duan W. Sheng T. Xue J. Xue Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences JAPS 20232023/06/18 33 3 612-619 1018-7081 https://doi.org/10.36899/JAPS.2023.3.0654 <p><em>Pinellia ternata</em>&nbsp;(Thunb.) Briet. is a well-known traditional Chinese herbal medicine that has many beneficial effects such as anti-tumor, anti-fertility, blood fat-reducing, and liver-protective. The comprehensive utilization value of&nbsp;<em>P. ternata</em>&nbsp;is high and the development prospect is broad. However, low tuber production resulting from &ldquo;sprout tumble&rdquo; (ST) due to high temperature and light intensity has largely reduced its use. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the functional gene responses to high temperature and light. Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) is commonly used for accurately gene expression detection during gene function exploration. However, because the RT-qPCR results may vary depending on the conditions and environment, an internal reference gene (IRG) is needed to normalize the RT-qPCR data. Analyzing IRGs in&nbsp;<em>P. ternata</em>&nbsp;can help with subsequent functional characterization and verification of the genes regulating&nbsp;<em>P. ternata</em>&nbsp;growth. In this study, we screened 8 suitable IRGs, and determined the most suitable IRGs using the Ct value, GeNorm, NormFinder, and BestKeeper under shade and high-temperature conditions, and in different tissues. The results showed that&nbsp;<em>18S</em>&nbsp;was a suitable IRG for&nbsp;<em>P. ternata&nbsp;</em>studies. This discovery has laid the foundation for further research on&nbsp;<em>P. ternata</em>, and is also beneficial for the exploration of more IRGs in medicinal plants.</p> internal reference gene, high temperature, shade, RT-qPCR, Pinellia ternate Pakistan Agricultural Scientists Forum https://thejaps.org.pk/AbstractView.aspx?mid=Biot-20-0015