Abstract: Homologous HMGS gene cDNA was isolated from the stem of Aquilaria sinensis(Lour.) Gilg through reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) technique, and named as AsHMGS. The nucleotide sequence of AsHMGS gene was 1 831 bp and contained an open reading frame (ORF) of 1 398 bp encoding 465 amino acids with a molecular weight of 51.4 kD, and the theoretical isoelectric point was 6.25. Representative motifs of AsHMGS and active site were deduced in the amino acids sequence of AsHMGS. The results of phylogenetic analysis suggested that the protein sequence of AsHMGS had high similarity to that of Arabidopsis thaliana, Arabidopsis lyrata subsp. lyrata, and Brassica juncea, followed by Camellia sinensis, Camptotheca acuminate, and Panax ginseng. The results of real-time PCR showed that the transcription of AsHMGS could be induced by methyl jasmonate.

Key words: Aquilaria sinensis, HMGS gene, sequence analysis, gene expression analysis