ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate differential gene expression profiling of symbiotic germinated seeds of Dendrobium officinale. METHODS: cDNAs from 5-week symbiotic germinated seeds and 5-week aseptic cultivated seeds, taken as the tester and driver respectively, were used to construct a suppressive subtractive hybridization (SSH) cDNA library. RESULTS: By sequencing positive clones and BLASTx analysis against GenBank database, 100 expressed sequence tags (EST) homologous to plant known genes were obtained. Functional annotation revealed that they were grouped into serials of cellular processes including cell and chromosome structure, RNA synthesis, signal transduction, energy metabolism, protein synthesis and degradation, and cell defense, etc. Real-time quantitative RT-PCR analyses showed that the five randomly selected genes were all up-regulated in symbiotic germinated seeds. CONCLUSION: The symbiotic seed germination of D. officinale is involved in multiple pathways, and the results of this study will lay a foundation for further molecular elucidation of seed germination in Orchidaceae.