Isolation and expression analysis of a tobacco AINTEGUMENTA ortholog (NtANTL)

The Arabidopsis AINTEGUMENTA (ANT) protein is essential for proper ovule development, but functions in cell proliferation and organ growth throughout the plant. Here we report the isolation of a full-length cDNA clone from tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) that encodes a protein with high similarity to ANT and is preferentially expressed in the pistil. In situ hybridization analysis on the tobacco ovary shows that the expression pattern of the corresponding gene is different from that of ANT in Arabidopsis.