Objective To investigate the association between donor complement factor component 7 (C7) rs6876739 gene polymorphisms and risk of early bacterial infection following orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT).Methods A total of 113 patients who had undergone OLT in Shanghai General Hospital between July 2007 and January 2011 were included.A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP),donor C7 rs6876739 was genotyped and analyzed together with clinical data.Results We demortstrated that donor C7 rs6876739 CC genotype had higher risk of early bacterial infection than TT genotype following OLT (55.6％ vs.26.5％,P =0.021).The multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that gender (P =0.018),biliary complications (P =0.018),ICU stay after LT (P＜0.001) and donor C7 rs6876739 genotype (P =0.001) were identified as independent factors of early bacterial infection.Conclusion Donor C7 rs6876739 genotype polymorphism is associated with early bacterial infection following OLT and may be a new marker of risk for the development of potentially serious bacterial infection after liver transplantation.