A DNA sequence, pOs6.20, was cloned from the nuclear genome of cultiva
ted rice (Oryza sativa L.) by hybridization with a human minisatellite
sequence. At high hybridization stringency, a subfragment of the rice
sequence, pOs6.20.3, detected low-copy restriction fragment length po
lymorphisms (RFLPs), which behaved as Mendelian genetic markers. This
subfragment detected multicopy RFLPs between an indica and a javanica
cultivar at medium hybridization stringency. The sequences detected by
pOs6.20.3 at high hybridization stringency did not occur in rice spec
ies possessing the B, C, D, E, and F genomes. These results suggest th
at the RFLPs detected by this sequence can be placed on a genetic map
of rice and that this sequence can be used as a species-specific probe
for the A genome of rice.