Abstract
The commercial petunia cultivars are available as a popular fluriplant, and have been subjected to the basic studies in the flower phenotypes including colors and shape. Therefore, preparation of tools for comprehensive analysis of gene expression in petunia would give us a wealth of information about the molecular basis for the flower phenotype.
Here, we carried out a large-scale analysis of ESTs by using a full-length cDNA library in petunias. The crossbred between P.axillaris and P.integrifolia is a potential ancestor of garden petunias. A cDNA library was prepared by using flowers and flower buds harvested at various developmental stages of this crossbred plant. Of 4,800 cDNA clones analyzed, 2,976 clones are selected as a clone harboring a unique sequence. A cDNA microarray is now under construction, and we will report the basic characterization of this cDNA microarray.
