A cDNA from pea petals with sequence similarity to pollen allergen, cytokinin-induced and genetic tumour-specific genes: identification of a new family of related sequences.

A cDNA isolated from pea petals exhibits extensive similarity to pollen allergen genes, a cytokinin-regulated cDNA from soybean suspension cultures, a partial cDNA preferentially expressed in tobacco genetic tumours, four Arabidopsis expressed sequence tags (ESTs) and fifteen rice ESTs. This diverse family of pollen-allergen-likes genes may have a common ancestor or at least share common functional domains. Possession of a putative signal peptide and a presumed extracellular location is a common aspect of this family of sequences.