We cloned and characterized the Drosophila gene, tincar (tinc), which encodes a novel protein with eight putative transmembrane domains. The tinc mRNA was expressed specifically in four of the six pairs of cardioblasts in each segment, in a pattern identical to that of tinman (tin), a homeobox gene required for the specification of the dorsal vessel. In the non-Tin-expressing pairs of cardioblasts, tinc transcription seemed to be repressed by Seven-up.