Using a modified cDNA representational difference analysis (RDA) method, a LEA gene fragment was isolated from the regulated carrot somatic embryo, which was used as the probe to screen the cDNA library of the regulated carrot somatic embryo and the genomic library constructed by the method of altering osmotic pressure. Sequence analysis showed that it is homologous to LEA gene family and designated as DcLEA1 (GenBank number: AF308739), a new member of the carrot LEA gene family. Its transcription region contains 5′ UTR, two exons, one intron and 3′ UTR region; its coding region is 480 bp long, coding for 159 amino acids and one stop codon. Northern hybridization indicated that DcLEA1 gene was not expressed in the adult carrot but expressed at high levels in the regulated carrot somatic embryo. In carrot somatic embryo which had been deregulated for 12 hours, the expression levels dropped rapidly; with the prolongation of deregulation, the radicle of carrot somatic embryo began to stretch, and the expression level of DcLEA1 gene increased. This phenomenon is similar to the expression pattern of LEA gene in the course of dormancy and germination of the seed; thus suggesting that the sucrose regulation-deregulation system of the carrot somatic embryo can be used to mimic plant seed dormancy and germination and can also be used to study the molecular mechanisms of these two biological processes.