Abstract: The elongation factor BoEF-Tu was isolated and characterized from cabbage（Brassica oleracea L. var. capitata L.）line E1 using RT-PCR and RACE-PCR after two-dimensional electrophoresis of cabbage pollen total proteins，which found that BoEF-Tu protein was upregulated when pollens were germinated. The cabbage BoEF-Tu cDNA clone contained 1 728 bp with an open reading frame（ORF）located from 112 to 1 473 bp，encoding a protein of 453 amino acids. The predicted molecular mass of BoEF-Tu was 49.17 kD with acidic pI of 6.52. Bioinformatic analysis results showed that BoEF-Tu protein might contain 9 α-helixes and 18 β-folds，and a GTP-binding signature（DKAPEEKKRGITIATA）was located from 106 to 121 amino acid residues，but had no signal peptide sequences and transmembrane region. Homology analysis of the deduced amino acids indicated that the sequences had 93% similarity with Arabidopsis thaliana EF-TuM. The phylogenetic tree showed that the BoEF-Tu had the closest genetic relationship with Arabidopsis thaliana EF-Tu.

Key words: cabbage, pollen, elongation factor