Abstract: Camellia Oleifera is an important oil-producing woody species in China, and the oil, called as tea-oil, can be used as a high-quality edible oil, cosmetic material and biomass energy with the abundant poly unsaturated fatty acids such as oleic acid and linoleic acid. FAD2 gene is a key factor in controlling lipid biosynthesis, and controls the formation of linoleic acid from oleic acid in seeds of C. oleifera. Cloning of the FAD2 gene would facilitate us to reveal the lipid synthesis rule in seeds of C. oleifera and have important impact on theory and application. Full-length cDNA clone of FAD2 gene was for the first time obtained by using methods of 5′RACE and overlap extension PCR based on our constructed EST library of C. oleifera. It was 1 682 bp in length and contained a 1 149 bp ORF (open reading frame) encoding a peptide of 382 amino acids, which had the typical conserved domains of FAD2 and showed high homology with those of other plant species.

Key words: Camellia oleifera, EST library, FAD2 gene, RACE, Overlap Extension PCR, gene cloning