MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF CDNAS CORRESPONDING TO GENES EXPRESSED DURING ALMOND (PRUNUS-AMYGDALUS BATSCH) SEED DEVELOPMENT

A number of different cDNA clones corresponding to the most abundant m RNAs present in immature seeds have been isolated from an almond (Prun us amygdalus cv. Texas) immature seed cDNA library. Those correspondin g to proteins involved in storage processes have been further characte rized. Two of these cDNAs (PA3BF1 and PA3BE12) code for the almond glo bulins (prunins), the main family of storage proteins synthesized in s eeds during embryogenesis, and another cDNA (PA3BA1) codes for the 15. 7 kDa almond oleosin, a protein located on the surface of oil bodies i n plant seeds. These cDNAs have been sequenced and their expression du ring almond fruit development has been studied. Their expression is se ed-specific and localized in cotyledons around 100 days after flowerin g. Both prunin and oleosin genes are present in one or two copies in t he almond genome.