title: Analysis of expressed sequence tags of flower buds in Lotus japonicus.
abstract: In order to study gene expression in a reproductive organ, we constructed a cDNA library of mature flower buds in Lotus japonicus, and characterized expressed sequence tags (ESTs) of 842 clones randomly selected. The EST sequences were clustered into 718 non-redundant groups. From BLAST and FASTA search analyses of both protein and DNA databases, 58.5% of the EST groups showed significant sequence similarities to known genes. Several genes encoding these EST clones were identified as pollen-specific genes, such as pectin methylesterase, ascorbate oxidase, and polygalacturonase, and as homologous genes involved in pollen-pistil interaction. Comparison of these EST sequences with those derived from the whole plant of L. japonicus, revealed that 64.8% of EST sequences from the flower buds were not found in EST sequences of the whole plant. Taken together, the EST data from flower buds generated in this study is useful in dissecting gene expression in floral organ of L. japonicus.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agriculture, Iwate University, Ueda, Morioka, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kokubun
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Takahata
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Higashitani
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tabata
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D001204:Ascorbate Oxidase / Q000235:genetics; D002265:Carboxylic Ester Hydrolases / Q000235:genetics; D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000378:metabolism; D016208:Databases, Factual; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D015723:Gene Library; D017343:Genes, Plant; D011096:Polygalacturonase / Q000235:genetics; D019685:Rosales / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; D001204:Ascorbate Oxidase; D002265:Carboxylic Ester Hydrolases; C022323:pectinesterase; D011096:Polygalacturonase