The cDNA of msfp-1 encoding mussel adhesive plaque protein (MSFP-1) was obtained from the total RNA of Mytilus sp. JHX-2002 by RT-PCR. The DNA of msfp-1 was amplified by PCR from the genomic DNA of Mytilus sp. JHX-2002. The cDNA and DNA of msfp-1 were sequenced, respectively. As the results shown that msfp-1 is 591 bp encoding 196 amino acids in length. The sequence contained the signal peptide region coding 24 amino acids, the nonrepetitive region coding 76 amino acids and the repeptitive region of eight repeats of the decapeptide. No intron has been found in the msfp-1, and there were, seven potential O-glycosylate sites in the sequence. The sequence of msfp-1 gene was some homology to that of other fp-1 gene which had been reported (e.g. mgfp-1, mefp-1 etc.), but the number of the tandem repeats of the decapeptide in msfp-1 sequence was fewer than those in other fp-1 sequences. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.