Molecular analysis and expression of a floral organ-relative F-box gene isolated from 'Zigui shatian' pummelo (Citrus grandis Osbeck)

F-box proteins are a large family of eukaryotic proteins that contained a conserved motif of approximately 40 amino acids. They play an important role in the processing of degradation of cellular regulatory proteins. In this study we isolated a full-length of cDNA encoding a putative F-box protein from Citrus grandis Osbeck CV 'Zigui shatian' pummelo and designated as CgF-box. The cDNA sequence of CgF-box was 920 bp containing a 585 bp open reading frame encoding a precursor protein of 194 amino acid residues. The deduced protein comprised a conserved F-box domain at the position from the 40th to 84th amino acids. Cluster analysis suggested that CgF-box was more closely related to the grape F-Box protein. Southern hybridization verified CgF-box existed in the genome as multiple copies. The expression analysis revealed that the expression level of CgF-box gene remarkably increases during the flower developmental process of 'Zigui shatian' pummelo, such as high level of expression was noted in style, petal and anther, on the other hand low level of expression was found in ovary and leaf. For further verifying the different expression in different tissue of this gene, in situ hybridization was conducted, strong expression signal could be observed in the style, stigma and anther, low even no signal was observed in ovary. According to their findings we can conclude that CgF-box was not only involved in flower maturation, but also showed different roles in different tissue.