Objective This study aims to investigate the expression of delta-like 1(DLKl) gene in the bone marrow cells of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes(MDS) and to explore its molecular characteristics for the early diagnosis of MDS. Methods The expression of DLK1 mRNA in the bone marrow cells of cases with MDS,acute myeloid leukemia(AML),and normal control groups were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction and were analyzed for clinical significance. Results Significantly higher expression of DLK1 mRNA was observed in the bone marrow cells of MDS patients(0.7342±0.3652) compared with the normal control group(0.4801±0.1759)(P<0.05).The expression of DLK1 mRNA had a positive correlation with the proportion of bone marrow blasts(r=0.467,P<0.05).Moreover,DLKl mRNA expression was significantly increased as MDS progressed (P<0.05).Patients with abnormal karyotypes exhibited significantly higher expression of DLKl mRNA(0.9007±0.4334) than those with normal karyotypes(0.6411±0.2630)(P<0.05).Subsequently,patients with highly expressed DLKl(>0.8) presented significantly higher malignant clone burden(0.4134±0.3999) than those with lower DLKl expression(<0.8),(0.1517±0.3109),(P<0.05). Conclusions The DLK1 gene was highly expressed in MDS patients,and was increased as MDS progressed.The expression of DLK1 mRNA was positively correlated with the proportion of the bone marrow blasts.A high expression of DLKl gene suggested a higher malignant clone burden of MDS. Objective This research aims to investigate the expression of delta-like 1 (DLK1) gene in the bone marrow cells of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and to explore its molecular characteristics for the early diagnosis of MDS. Methods The expression of DLK1 mRNA in the bone marrow cells of cases with MDS, acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and normal control groups were both measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction and were analyzed for clinical significance. Results Significantly higher expression of DLK1 mRNA was observed in the bone marrow cells of the MDS patients (0.7342 ± 0.3652) compared with the normal control group (0.4801 ± 0.1759) (P <0.05). The expression of DLK1 mRNA had a positive correlation with the proportion of bone marrow blasts (r = 0.467, .Moreover, DLK1 mRNA expression was significantly increased as compared with those with normal karyotypes (0.6411 ± 0.263 (P <0.05) .Subsequently, patients with highly expressed DLK1 (> 0.8) presents significantly higher malignant clone hunter (0.4134 ± 0.3999) than those with lower DLK1 expression (<0.8), (0.1517 ± 0.3109) 0.05). Conclusions The DLK1 gene was highly expressed in MDS patients, and was increased as MDS progressed. The expression of DLK1 mRNA was positively correlated with the proportion of the bone marrow blasts. A high expression of DLK1 gene suggested a higher malignant clone hunter of MDS.