The 5′-end expressed sequence tags of Lotus japonicus

Abstract

For a global analysis of gene expression during nodule tissue formation in a model legume, Lotus japonicus, a cDNA array was constructed using 18,144 non-redundant clone set deduced from 3′-end expressed sequence tags (EST, Kouchi et al. 2004). In the current study, to obtain peptide coding information from 5′-ends of clone, we generated 7,320 5′ EST sequences. BLAST search against a protein database indicated that 65.5% of the ESTs showed significant similarity to registered sequences. We identified numerous of nodule-enhanced genes, including many involved in diverse cellular processes, suggesting that the EST resources generated in this study will be a useful tool for the identification of genes related to nodulation and symbiotic nitrogen fixation. Copyright © 2008 The Japanese Society for Plant Cell and Molecular Biology.