MOLECULAR CHARACTERIZATION OF CDNAS CORRESPONDING TO GENES EXPRESSED DURING ALMOND (PRUNUS-AMYGDALUS BATSCH) SEED DEVELOPMENT

A number of different cDNA clones corresponding to the most abundant mRNAs present in immature seeds have been isolated from an almond (Prunus amygdalus cv. Texas) immature seed cDNA library. Those corresponding to proteins involved in storage processes have been further characterized. Two of these cDNAs (PA3BF1 and PA3BE12) code for the almond globulins (prunins), the main family of storage proteins synthesized in seeds during embryogenesis, and another cDNA (PA3BA1) codes for the 15.7 kDa almond oleosin, a protein located on the surface of oil bodies in plant seeds. These cDNAs have been sequenced and their expression during almond fruit development has been studied. Their expression is seed-specific and localized in cotyledons around 100 days after flowering. Both prunin and oleosin genes are present in one or two copies in the almond genome.