Construction and characterization of a high-quality cDNA library of Cymbidium faberi suitable for yeast one- and two-hybrid assays

Abstract Background Cymbidium faberi is one of the oldest cultivars of oriental orchids, with an elegant flower fragrance. In order to investigate the molecular mechanism and the functions of related proteins in the methyl jasmonate (MeJA) signaling pathway, one of the main components of flower fragrance in C. faberi, yeast one- and two-hybrid three-frame cDNA libraries were constructed. Results In this study, a modified cDNA library used for yeast one- and two-hybrid screening was successfully constructed, with a recombinant efficiency of 95%. The lengths of inserted fragments ranged from 750~3000 bp, and the library capacity reached 6 × 109 CFU/ μg of cDNA insert, which was suitable for the requirements of subsequent screening. Finally, a homologous protein related with pathogenesis was screened out by the bait vector of CfbHLH36, which may participate in the MeJA signaling pathway. Conclusion The yeast one- and two-hybrid library of C. faberi provides large amounts of useful information for the functional genomics research in C. faberi, and this method could also be applied to other plants to screen DNA-protein and protein-protein interactions.