Abstract: Human gene rb related to apoptosis was used as the probe for the Southern blot hybridization of the genomic DNA in both maize ( Zea mays L. ) and rice ( Oryza sativa L. ). The results indicated that the homologous sequences of rb were presented in the two species. The physical location of the rb homologous sequences was also carried out in maize chromosomes by fluorescence in sim hybridization (FISH). The gene rb was hybridized onto the long arms of the chromosomes 5 and 6, and the short ann of the chromosome 8. The detection rates of FISH were 7.58%, 16.16% and 10.10%, and percent distances from centromere to the detection sites were 86.17 + 3.22, 94.10 + 2.59 and 92.47 + 2.33 respectively. These results provided important clues to further research of plant apoptosis genes.

Key words: Maize, Apoptosis, rb, Homologous sequences, Fluorescence in situ hybridization