Abstract:Repetitive DNA sequences are useful molecular markers for studying plant genome evolution and species diversity. The authors report the isolation and characterization of repetitive DNA sequences (pOs139) from Oryza sativa cuhivars "Zhaiyeqing". By Southern blot analysis, the authors discovered that pOs139 sequences were organized not only tandemly, but also highly specifc for the AA genome of Oryza genus. Sequence analysis revealed that the clone pOs139 contains a 355 bp repetitive unit. The genomic DNA of 29 Chinese common wild accessions, and 43 cultivated rice accessions, were analyzed by Southern blot with pOs139 as a probe. The results illustrated that there was significant difference in hybridization patterns between japonica and indica subspecies. Hybridization bands of indica subspecies were much more than those of japonica, and the Chinese common wild rice was similar to indica in hybridization patterns. The copy number estimated by dot blot hybridization analysis indicated that a considerable degree of variation existed among different accessions of O. sativa and the Chinese common wild rice. It is interesting to note that japonica subspecies contains relatively low copy numbers of pOs139-related repetitive DNA sequences, while the indica and Chinese common wild rice contain relatively high copy numbers.