Abstract: ObjectiveFull-length sequence ofζ-carotene desaturase(PpZDS)gene in peach fruit was cloned and its bioinformatics analysis and expression analysis were also conducted to provide reference for the study of biosynthetic mo-lecular mechanism of carotene organisms in peach fruits.MethodPpZDS gene in peach fruit from yellow peach variety was tested and its bioinformatics analysis was carried out. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR(qRT-PCR)was used to test its expression in different developmental stages.ResultThe cloned gene PpZDS was 2014 bp in full length,it con-tained complete coding region of 1716 bp,and encoded 571 amino acids. PpZDS protein contained the characteristic se-quence of ZDS(KVAIIGAGLAGMSTAVELLDQGHEVDIYESR),which belonged to the NAD_binding_8 super family-conserved domains. PpZDS protein showed close genetic relationship with ZDS protein in apple(gi|33313474)and straw-berry(gi|256041892)which belonged to Rosales order and differentiation degree between different species was low. Gene PpZDS showed expression in both flesh and peel during whole peach fruit maturation period,and the expression showed a tendency of gradual increase from soft-core stage to firm-ripe stage,reaching the highest at firm-ripe stage,and then de-creased at full ripe stage. The expression of gene PpZDS in the fresh was generally higher than that in the peel at different maturation periods. When peach fruit was at firm-core stage,firm-ripe stage and full ripe stage,expression of gene PpZDS in the fruit fresh was significantly higher than the expression in the peel(P<0.05).ConclusionThe expression of gene PpZDS can be involved in the positive regulation of peach fruit carotenoid biosynthesis and color appearance.