To investigate cold induced genes of plantain (

Musa paradisiaca

L.，ABB group） seedlings

a forward subtractive cDNA library is constructed by suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) method

which is performed using the cDNA from plantain seedlings treated with low temperature as tester and those from untreated seedlings as driver.The library is differently screened through dot hybridization

about fifty clones are identified as cold specifically induced or highly expressed. After sequencing and bioinformatics analysis

the results show that these expressed sequence tags （ESTs） are mainly related to genes involved in cell structure

protein synthesis

expression regulation

signal transduction and other uncertain functions. The research has established a basis for studying low temperature tolerance mechanism of plantain and further cloning genes related to coldresistance.