A Guangzhou isolate of ZYMV infecting Benincasa hispida Cogn. var. chieh-qua How was identified by indicator tests and partial sequence amplification. The coat protein (CP) gene of this virus was amplified by RT-PCR, and ligated to the expression vector pET-22b(+). The recombinant plasmid pET-ZCP was transformed into E. coli BL21 (DE3) and then induced to express by IPTG. It was shown that the CP gene was highly expressed by SDS-PAGE and Western blot analysis. The molecular weight of the recombinant protein was about 33.0 kD. Antiserum with high specificity was produced after the rabbit was immunized with purified recombinant protein, and the titer was determined to be 1/4096 by antigen coating plate-ELISA (ACP-ELISA).