In this study, a PDS gene was cloned from Hibiscus esculentus L. by transcriptome sequencing. The fulllength cDNA sequence of PDS was 2 020 bp, which contained a 1 686 bp open reading frame (ORF) that encoded 561 amino acids, with a predicted molecular weight (mol.wt) of 62.62 kD and a hypothetical isoelectric point (pI) of 8.155. It shared over 93% identity with the homologous proteins from Gossypium barbadense, Gossypium raimondii and Gossypium hirsutum All have a NAD(P)binding rossmannlike domain and a carotenoidbinding domain, showing that it was highly conservative. This gene was named HePDS and the GeneBank accession number was MG372370. Realtime PCR analysis revealed that HePDS could be expressed in different tissues of Hibiscus esculentus L., including roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruits, and the expression level was the highest in tender leaves and 2 days after flowering during the process of leaf and fruit development, respectively. The content of carotenoids increases gradually with the development of leaves and fruits, while the content in mature leaves was the highest and that of fruit was the highest after flowering 4 d. These results revealed the expression of HePDS genes closely related to carotenoid content, and provided a base for the study of carotenoid molecular regulation mechanism and reverse genetics in Hibiscus esculentus L..