Rubisco small subunit gene family in cassava.

Cassava leaves of two different cultivars, Brazil and Buloh, were used to isolate mRNA. The mRNA isolated was successfully used in the construction of cDNA libraries for each of the cultivars. The cDNA libraries were screened for members of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase small subunit gene family and positive clones were sequenced. A total of seven different SSU genes, of which five were from cultivar Brazil and two were from cultivar Buloh, were isolated. Comparison results show that even though all the sequences are highly similar, they can be classified into three subfamilies. Homology between members of the same subfamily is higher than homology between members from the same cultivar.