The five genes encoding ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase (rbcS) from tomato are differentially expressed. Transcription of the genes is organ specific and developmentally regulated in fruit and light regulated in cotyledons and leaves. DNase I footprinting assays were used to map multiple sites of DNA-protein interaction in the promoter regions of all five genes and to determine whether the differential transcriptional activity of each gene correlated with developmental or organ-specific changes in DNA-protein interactions. We show organ-specific differences in DNase I protection patterns, suggesting that differential transcription of rbcS genes is controlled at least in part at the level of DNA-protein interactions. In contrast, no changes were detected in the DNase I footprint pattern generated with nuclear extracts from dark-grown cotyledons versus cotyledons exposed to light, implying that light-dependent regulation of rbcS transcription is controlled by protein-protein interactions or modification of DNA binding proteins. During development of tomato fruit, most DNA-protein interactions in the rbcS promoter regions disappear, coincident with the transcriptional inactivation of the rbcS genes. In nuclear extracts from nonphotosynthetic roots and red fruit, the only detectable DNase I protection corresponds to a G-box binding activity. Detection of other DNA binding proteins in extracts from these organs and expression of nonphotosynthetic genes exclude the possibility that roots and red fruit are transcriptionally inactive. The absence of complex promoter protection patterns in these organs suggests either that cooperative interactions between different DNA binding proteins are necessary to form functional transcription complexes or that there is developmental and organ-specific regulation of several rbcS-specific transcription factors in these organs. The DNase I-protected DNA sequences defined in this study are discussed in the context of conserved DNA sequence motifs and previously characterized binding sites.