Abstract: The total RNA was extracted from the leaves of pokeweed ( Phytolacca americana L. ) plants which had been subcuhured for eight weeks. The first strand of cDNA was synthesized from the total RNA template with oligo(dT)15 primer using MMLV reverse transcriptase. A 0.96 kb cDNA fragment was obtained after 30 PCR amplification cycles with two specific primers. The cDNA fragment was sequenced from two directions after being cloned into pGEM-T Easy Vector. The result showed that the cDNA clone had the entire coding region with the same sequence as the previously published pokeweed anti-viral protein (PAP) cDNA clone. The plant expression vector with the PAP cDNA was constructed, and the work of transferring the PAP cDNA into tobacco and rape to obtain transgenic plants resistant to a broadspectrum of viruses is in progress.

Key words: Pokeweed anti-viral protein, cDNA clone, Plant expression vector