XVI International Botanical Congess

LIM15 is a lily RecA homolog that is specifically expressed during leptotene-to-zygotene of microsporocytes. In order to understand the mechanisms of nuclear import and specific subnuclear localization of the LIM15 protein in vivo, we tagged the LIM15 with green fluorescent protein (GFP) and expressed in plant cells. The GFP::LIM15 fusion protein introduced into onion epidermal cells and tobacco BY-2 cells by microprojectile bombardment targeted to the nucleus. This suggests that the LIM15 has an ability to localize to the chromosomes without the help of other meiosis specific factors in plant cells. Mutation analysis of the LIM15 protein indicated that the intact LIM15 protein is necessary for this specific subnuclear localization.