LEA5 gene was postulated related with both stress and hormone responses. In an attempt to find genes exclusively expressed during fruit ripening of Cara Cara navel orange, a novel cDNA clone encoding late embryogenesis-abundant protein 5 like gene (CitLEA5-1) was obtained. It was 582 bp in length, containing 97 deduced amino acids. Compared with the stress-induced LEA5 from leaves of Citrus sinensis, CitLEA5-1 had a shorter 3′ untranslated region (UTR). Semi- quantitative RT-PCR analysis revealed that CitLEA5-1 was transcriptional regulated during fruit ripening of Cara Cara navel orange.
