Nucleotide sequence of the rice cytochrome f gene and the presence of sequence variation near this gene.

The rice (Oryza sativa L. var. Labelle) chloroplast (cp) gene encoding cytochrome f has been isolated and sequenced. The coding region of this rice gene displays 95.1%, 85.3% and 85.2% nucleotide sequence homology with that of wheat, pea and spinach, respectively. To examine the cpDNA sequence variation in rice, cpDNA from Labelle and its parents, Belle Patna and Dawn was compared. Using the cytochrome f gene as the probe for hybridization, we found several differences in the size and number of restriction fragments in the cp genome of three rice varieties. An additional restriction fragment found in the Belle Patna cp suggests that this cp genome is either heterogeneous or contains two copies of cytochrome f gene per cpDNA.