TA29 is an anther specific gene in tobacco which has been widely used for engineering male sterility in tobacco.
A homologue of TA29 gene was isolated from tomato by PCR using tomato genomic DNA as template. Primers
specific for TA29 gene were designed on the basis of available sequence from tobacco. Use of these primers in
PCR, amplified a product of expected size that was cloned in TA cloning vector and was completely sequenced.
Sequence analysis showed that gene from tomato has high sequence homology to tobacco TA29 gene.
Homology search also showed similarities to cDNA clone from some other solanaceous plants including
capsicum, petunia and potato. The conserved nature of this gene in tomato and tobacco suggests that the gene
can be reliably targeted both in tobacco and tomato for engineering male sterility.
Muhammad Shah Nawaz-ul-Rehman, Asif Ali Khan, Shahid Mansoor, Yusuf Zafar. (2008) Cloning and characterization of a tapetum specific gene from tomato, , Volume-45, Issue-1.
