In the present study,a sialyltransferase-like proteins (STLP) gene,designated as DoSTLP1 (GenBank accession No.KC178574),was identified from a medicinally important species Dendrobium officinale,using RT-PCR and RACE methods.Sequence analyses showed that the full length cDNA of DoSTLP1 was 1 340 bp and encoded a 367 aa with a molecular weight of 41.66 kD and an isoelectric point of 8.64;The deduced DoSTLP1 protein contained the sialyltransferase and glycosyltransferase family 29 conserved domains (1~357,87~346),together with a signal peptide sequence (1~27) and two transmembrane helices (3~25,285~311).Multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that DoSTLP1 was highly similar (44.7%~53.7%) to STLPs genes from various plant species and was closely related to those from monocots.Real time quantitative PCR analysis revealed that DoSTLP1 was constitutively expressed in the leaf,stem and root organs.The transcription level of DoSTLP1 in roots was relatively higher than that of leaves with 2.857 fold.Molecular characterization of DoSTLP1 will be helpful for further functional elucidation of the gene involving in the development of D.officinale.