The ipomoelin gene (IPO) was identified to be a wound inducible gene from sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas cv Tainung 57), and its expression was stimulated by ethylene, methyl jasmonate and hydrogen peroxide. IPO protein was also characterized as a defense related protein and it is a carbohydrate-binding protein. Recently, carbon monoxide (CO) was reported to play an important role in stress response and development, such as oxidative stress, salt stress, and root formation, in plants. The role of CO involved in wounding response has been further studied here. In the present of CO, the wound-induced IPO expression was inhibited. Heme oxygenase, which is a CO producing enzyme, was regulated in sweet potato to control IPO expression. CO induced the phosphorylation of p38-like MAPK in sweet potato, and negatively regulated the wound-induced IPO expression. Furthermore, the increase of cytosolic Ca2+ and the production of hydrogen peroxide were previously reported to be the main signal transducer inducing IPO expression. We found CO inhibited the accumulation of cytosolic Ca2+ stimulated by mechanical wounding. Besides, the production of hydrogen peroxide induced by wounding was also inhibited by catalase induced by CO. Finally, IPO gene is activated by dephosphorylated protein(s) via protein phosphatase, and that the position of dephosphorylated protein(s) is located in the very downstream of the signal transduction pathway for IPO expression.