Isolation and characterization of a tobacco gene with homology to pectate lyase which is specifically expressed during microsporogenesis.

A genomic clone has been isolated which contains an open reading frame of 1191 bp interrupted by two small introns. The ORF has been sequenced and the transcriptional start determined. The predicted amino acid sequence shows homology to the deduced amino acid sequences of two pollen-specific pectate lyase genes identified in tomato. The genomic clone was isolated using a partial cDNA clone, TP10, which had been isolated from a Nicotiana tabacum pollen cDNA library by means of differential screening. TP10 has been fully sequenced and contains an open reading frame of 792 bp which shows 96% homology to the ORF in the genomic clone. The transcript corresponding to TP10 is maximally expressed late in pollen development, and has not been detected in vegetative tissues.