Genomic organization and expression of an osmotin-like gene in Vitis vinifera L.

Southern analysis of genomic DNA indicated the presence of a multigene osmotin-like family in the grapevine genome. The expression of one of these genes that corresponds to the previously isolated pVVOSM1 cDNA is developmentally regulated showing high transcript levels in root, stem and leaf tissues of in vitro-grown plants, intermediate in calluses and berries and low in cell suspensions. Treatment of cell suspension cultures with abscisic acid (ABA), ethylene or NaCl resulted in high levels of expression of the pVVOSM1 gene suggesting regulation of the osmotin-like gene by the abiotic signals mentioned above