ABSTRACT
Proteomic analyses of tomato seed, dry and during germination, and mature pollen were conducted using one- and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and mass spectrometry. Both the tomato seed and pollen contain a number of defense-related proteins that could be part of the survival strategy of these small, free-floating structures. The tomato seed contains a high number of storage proteins, such as vicilins, legumins, albumins and prolamins, not identified in the pollen, which are potentially required for seed germination and growth of the multicellular embryo. The seed and pollen also possess cytoskeleton-related proteins, glycine-rich proteins, proteins involved in nucleic acid and general metabolism, and signaling proteins, all of which are designated to have important roles in germination and growth of these two structures.
