The eukaryotic messenger RNA is formed from the pre-mRNA after extensive modification and processing inside the nucleus. One of the major processing steps is the removal of introns from the pre mRNA which is carried out by a large RNA-protein complex called spliceosome. The spliceosome is made of five snRNPs (U1, U2, U4, U5 and U6) and a number of non-snRNP proteins. A computational analysis was made to identify and characterize the 73 small nuclear RNA (snRNA) genes in the indica and japonica rice genomes. A total of 76 and 73 putative snRNA coding genes were identified in indica and japonica genomes, respectively. These genes were comparatively analyzed for conserved, plant specific and rice specific features.
