A flower-specific gene encoding an osmotin-like protein from Lycopersicon esculentum

The flower-specific cDNA Tomf216 representing an mRNA encoding an osmotin-like protein was identified by the differential screening of a cDNA library produced from mRNA extracted from premeiotic tomato flowers (Lycopersicon esculentum). The cDNA is 894 nucleotides in length and encodes a protein of 252 amino acids. The deduced protein has a molecular mass of 27.2 kDa, an N-terminal region predicted to be a signal sequence, and a predicted molecular mass of 24.7 kDa for the mature protein. The protein contains 16 cysteine residues and has 30% to 32% amino acid sequence identity to pathogenesis-related osmotins. The gene is expressed in flowers and fruit with the highest levels of transcript accumulation in pistils from flowers at anthesis. No expression was detected in vegetative organs.