Bean leaf abscission (organ separation) correlates with the de novo accumulation of a pI9.5 cellulase and its mRNA. Overlapping genomic clones encoding the bean abscission cellulase (BAC) were isolated and partially sequenced. In addition, a genomic clone for a soybean abscission cellulase (SAC) was identified and the sequence compared to the BAC genomic sequence. Two 5'-upstream regions are particularly well conserved in the two sequences. Of special interest here is the region between -1 and -200 in the BAC promoter which is highly conserved in the SAC gene. Particle gun bombardment with a BAC promoter construct containing 210 bp of BAC sequence 5' to the transcription start site was sufficient to drive abscission-specific and ethylene and auxin-regulated transient expression in bean. In addition to the transient expression assay, expression was examined in stably transformed tomato. A similar -210 bp BAC promoter construct supported a low level of ethylene-inducible reporter gene expression in tomato leaf abscission zones and adjacent petioles but not in ethylene-treated stem tissue or fruit. Expression from the -210 promoter in tomato abscission zones was inhibited by silver thiosulfate, an ethylene action inhibitor, and was partially inhibited by treatment with auxin.