ABUNDANCE OF TRANSCRIPTS SPECIFIC FOR GENES ENCODING ENZYMES OF THE PRECHORISMATE PATHWAY IN DIFFERENT ORGANS OF TOMATO (LYCOPERSICON-ESCULENTUM L) PLANTS

The abundance of transcripts specific for several tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) genes encoding enzymes of the prechorismate pathway wa s analyzed in different organs of mature plants utilizing a dot-blot a ssay which was developed for this purpose. The transcript levels were determined for two 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate 7-phosphate synthas e (FC 4.1.2.15), one shikimate kinase (EC 2.7.1.71), one 5-enolpyruvyl shikimate 3-phosphate synthase (EC 2.5.1.19), and two chorismate synth ase (EC 4.6.1.4) genes in leaves, cotyledons, stems, roots, and flower s. These organ-specific expression patterns were compared with that of the phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (EC 4.3.1.5) gene family of tomato.