Abstract:
                                      Rubisco (Ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate Carboxylase / Oxygenase) is the first key enzyme in the photosynthesis pathway. In this study, the full length cDNA, encoding Rubisco large subunit (RbsL) was cloned from 
Ulva linza for the first time. Partial 
rbcL cDNA sequence of 1 101 bp was first cloned by RT-PCR from total RNA, then, both sequences at 3′ and 5′ ends were amplified using 3′ -RACE and 5′ -RACE technologies that yielded 579 bp and 371 bp DNA fragments respectively. A full length cDNA sequence of 1472 bp was obtained from these cloned sequences and was assigned to a new NCBI accession number DQ813496. It contained the 1 425 bp full coding sequence for Rubisco large subunit (RbsL) and a leader sequence of 47 bp, and it encoded a protein of 474 amino acids. Through bioinformatic analysis and BLAST search, the full cDNA sequence in 
Ulva linza showed high homologies to known full length cDNAs of the same gene from other green algae where 
rbcL cDNAs were previously cloned. The identity ranged from 82.07% to 85.78%, and 88.00% to 94.11%, respectively, at DNA and amino acid levels. The highest homology of the protein was obtained between 
Ulva linza and 
Chlorella pyrenoidosa. Based on the newly identified cDNA sequence, multiple alignment was performed by using bioinformatic software among amino acid sequences of 
Ulva linza and other two higher plants and one green alga. Then, the secondary and three-dimensional structures for Rubisco large subunit in 
Ulva linza were also predicted and analyzed with online programs.