title: Isolation and characterization of CaMF3, an anther-specific gene in Capsicum annuum L.
abstract: Previous work on gene expression analysis based on RNA sequencing identified a variety of differentially expressed cDNA fragments in the genic male sterile-fertile line 114AB of Capsicum annuum L. In this work, we examined the accumulation of one of the transcript-derived fragments (TDFs), CaMF3 (male fertile 3), in the flower buds of a fertile line. The full genomic DNA sequence of CaMF3 was 1,951 bp long and contained 6 exons and 5 introns, with the complete sequence encoding a putative 25.89 kDa protein of 234 amino acids. The predicted protein of CaMF3 shared sequence similarity with members of the isoamyl acetate-hydrolyzing esterase (IAH1) protein family. CaMF3 expression was detected only in flower buds at stages 7 and 8 and in open flowers of a male fertile line; no expression was observed in any organs of a male sterile line. Fine expression analysis revealed that CaMF3 was expressed specifically in anthers of the fertile line. These results suggest that CaMF3 is an anther-specific gene that may be essential for anther or pollen development in C. annuum.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Taiyuan Normal University, Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China. ; College of Horticulture, South China Agricultural University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China.
authors.forename: Xuefeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hao
authors.forename: Changming
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Guoju
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Bihao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Qinghua
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jianjun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lei