Bamboo shoots grow quickly through the rapid elongation of intemodes.In order to verify whether DNA methylation affects bamboo shoot elongation,we compared DNA methylation levels at five developmental stages of bamboo (Phyllostachys praecox),including young bamboo shoot of 40-cm at length (S1),bamboo shoot of 2-cm at length (S2),young leaf (Y1),leaf (Y2),and aging leaf(M),by using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) based on KpnI/MseI and Acc651/MseI platforms.The polymorphism ratio of methylated to unmethylated DNA sites in bamboo shoot (S1 and S2) was higher than that in leaf (Y1,Y2 and M).The polymorphism ratio of methylated to unmethylated DNA sites in S2 was highest (32％).Our results suggest that DNA methylation changed greatly at bamboo growing stages,especially in stage of rapid elongation of intemodes.