CHARACTERIZATION OF A BARLEY GENE CODING FOR AN ALPHA-AMYLASE INHIBITOR SUBUNIT (CMD-PROTEIN) AND ANALYSIS OF ITS PROMOTER IN TRANSGENIC TOBACCO PLANTS AND IN MAIZE KERNELS BY MICROPROJECTILE BOMBARDMENT

A gene coding for a barley CMd protein was isolated from a genomic lib rary using a cDNA probe encoding the wheat CM3 protein. Promoter seque nce analysis reveals motifs found in genes specifically expressed in e ndosperm and aleurone cells, as well as TATA and other putative functi onal boxes. 720 bp of the Hv85.1 CMd protein gene promoter, when fused to a gus coding region, were unable to direct GUS activity in the see ds of transgenic tobacco plants. In contrast, the same construction de livered into immature maize kernels by microprojectile bombardment was able to direct expression of GUS in the outermost cell layers of maiz e endosperm in both a tissue-specific and a developmentally determined manner.