ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CDNA CLONES CORRESPONDING TO THE GENES EXPRESSED PREFERENTIALLY IN FLORAL ORGANS OF ARABIDOPSIS-THALIANA

Seventeen cDNA clones of genes corresponding to mRNAs expressed prefer entially in floral organs of Arabidopsis thaliana were obtained by dif ferential screening of a flower bud cDNA library, and classified into five groups (1A, 17A, 1B, 4B and 5B) by cross-hybridization and restri ction analysis. Sequence analysis revealed that the 1A-1 and 17A-1 clo nes encode vegetative storage proteins (VSPs). The VSP mRNAs were dete cted in a small amount in leaves and increased to a limited level by w ounding. Both 1B-1 and 5B-1 clones were homologous to transmembrane pr otein cDNAs. The protein encoded by 4B-1 clone contained a proline-ric h region, but no homologous proteins were found in databases.