Isolation and characterization of mRNAs accumulated during in-vitro flower bud formation

The development of vegetative and generative buds on thin-layer expiants of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Samsun) has been studied at the level of translatable mRNA to detect changes in the mRNA population during bud initiation and differentiation, and several quantitative differences were found. By differential screening of a cDNA library obtained from flower-bud-regenerating explants we have isolated a group of six cDNA clones representing genes that are preferentially expressed during in-vitro flower bud formation. Nucleotide sequence analysis of one of these cDNAs, pAP8, showed that the most likely open reading frame has some typical characteristics of, and homology with, extensin-like genes. Northern blot analysis and in-situ hybridization suggest a specific role for these extensin-like genes in flower bud initiation on tobacco pedicel explants.