Isolation and characterization of the tomato homeobox gene THOM1

We have screened a cDNA library prepared from tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. cv. VFNT Cherry) shoot tips for homeobox-containing clones. The isolated cDNA clone THOM1 (tomato homeobox gene 1) contains a homeobox, a leucine zipper motif and and an acidic region. These features support the hypothesis that the THOM1 gene product acts as a transcriptional activator. THOM1 is highly expressed in the vegetative shoot apical meristem, the floral meristem and axillary meristems. Young derivatives of these meristems show similar levels of THOM1 transcripts which decrease with increasing age of the respective tissue. The THOM1 gene is located in the centromere region of chromosome 1 and belongs to a small gene family of the tomato genome.