Pandanus fascicularis is dioecious with the female plant producing a non-scented fruit while the male
produces a flower rich in volatiles. The essential oil extracted from the flowers is economically
exploited as a natural flavouring agent as well as for its therapeutic properties. Molecular dissection of
this distinct flower for identifying the genes responsible for its aroma by way of expressed sequence
tags (ESTs) has not been initiated in spite of its economic viability. A male flower-specific cDNA library
was constructed and 977 ESTs were generated. CAP3 analysis performed on the dataset revealed 83
contigs (549 ESTs) and 428 singlets, thereby yielding a total of 511 unigenes. Functional annotation
using the BLAST2GO software resulted in 1952 Gene ontology (GO) functional classification terms for
621 sequences. Unknown proteins were further analysed with InterProScan to determine their
functional motifs. RNA gel blot analysis of 26 functionally distinct transcripts potentially involved in
flowering and volatile generation, using vegetative and reproductive tissues of both the sexes, revealed
differential expression profiles. In addition to an overview of genes expressed, candidate genes with
expression that are modulated predominantly in the male inflorescence were also identified. This is the
first report on generation of ESTs to determine the subset of genes that can be used as potential
candidates for future attempts aimed towards its genetic and genome analysis including metabolic
engineering of floral volatiles in this economically important plant.