Cloning and Identification of lilyturf (Ophiopogon japonicus) RbcL cDNA fragment

This study was aimed to isolate ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase large subunit (rbcL) from lilyturf (Ophiopogon japonicus). A pair of primers used in amplifying chloroplast fragment from lilyturf was designed according to the corresponding sequences in tobacco, spinach chloroplast genomes. The fragment containing rbcL gene was cloned from lilyturf chloroplast genome. Sequencing analysis indicated that this fragment was 800 base pairs (bp) in size. The BLAST results showed that the homologous amino acid coded by this gene fragment with tobacco, spinach, Convallaria majalis, Yucca schidigera, Nothoscordum inutile and Iris missouriensis were from 93% to 99%. Based on the newly identified cDNA sequence, multiple alignment was performed by using bioinformatics software among amino acid sequences of lilyturf and other higher plants. The cloning of rbcL gene is helpful for the further research of photosynthetic efficiency in lilyturf.