Cloning and Genetic Transformation of NAM Gene in Tomato

To understand the function of NAM gene in tomato,the full length cDNA NAM gene was amplified by RT-PCR from tomato cDNA,which contains a 1 053 bp open reading frame(ORF)encoding 351 amino acid residues,and contains NAC domain in its N terminus.Quantitative PCR analysis showed that NAM expressed highly in all tissues including root,stem,leaf,flower and fruit.To further investigate the function of tomato NAM gene,NAM overexpression vector pLP-35S-NAM was constructed,and transformed into tomato plants by Agrobacterium-mediated method.The NAM overexpressing plants showed a dwarf phenotype,the size of these plants was smaller than those of wild-type plants,the plant growth was inhibited,and the leaves of transgenic tomato were highly lobed shaped.In conclusion,NAM affected the formation of shoot apical meristem(SAM)and leaf morphogenesis in tomato.