Abstract: Rubisco activase is an ubiquitous enzyme for the activation of Rubisco in photosynthetic autotrophs. A cDNA fragment of Rubisco activase gene was cloned from wheat (Triticum aestivum). Northern blot showed that expression of the gene was down-regulated in dark-induced senescence leaves, where photosynthetic rate, chlorophyll content and Rubisco activity also showed obvious decline. The results suggest that the decreased expression level of the gene was related to the decline in photosynthetic rate.

Key words: Rubisco activase, Wheat, Senescence