A cold and drought inducible gene named AmRFP1 encoding a zinc finger protein was cloned from Ammopiptanthus mongolicus, a plant with very strong resistance to adverse environments, using RTPCR. The predicted protein is composed of 366 amino acid residues and contains a C3H2C3type zinc finger domain, and therefore it belongs to a RINGH2 (C3H2C3)type zinc finger protein. It also contains two putative transmembrane domains and most probably locates in plasma membrane. The expression change of AmRFP1 in young leaves of the A. mongolicus plants growing in the wild was examined in different seasons using the semiquantitative RTPCR method. The expression level of AmRFP1 was very low in summer and increased obviously during autumn and reached the peak in the late autumn and early winter. In the coldest midwinter, however, it fallen back to the autumn level which remained basically unchanged in the following spring. Overexpression of AmRFP1 in Arabidopsis markedly reduced the resistance of the transgenic plants to freezing injury.