Abstract: A full-length cDNA sequence of apple ferritin ( iron-binding protein) gene was cloned from the leaves of Malus domestica Borkh. by RT-PCR method. The gene was named as Mdfer and its sequence was deposited in the GenBank (accession number DQ099429). The total length of Mdfer gene is 1 043 bp consisting of a 834 bp open reading frame (ORF) coding for 277 amino acids, and 209 bp non-coding 3’ region after the stop codon. Southern blotting analysis suggested that there were at least seven cop ies of ferritin gene in
the genome of Malus domestica Borkh. When the seedlings of Malus domestica were treated with 0.5 mmol·L ^{- 1} iron-citrate from zero to six hours, a gradually increased expression level of the ferritin gene was observed.This result suggested that the exp ression ofM dfer gene was possibly regulated by iron at transcrip tional level.

Key words: Apple, Ferritin gene, Cloning, Expression