Amyloplastid DNA was extracted from the Scrophulariaceae holoparasite Lathraea clandestina L. and then purified. An rbcL gene amplification was performed using polymerase chain reaction. Two regions of well conserved sequences in Tobacco, Spinach and Maize rbcL gene have been used as primers. PCR yields a sequence of about 1,230 base pairs, almost nine tenths of the rbcL coding region. Identical results were obtained with plastid DNAs from Tobacco and two other species of Scrophulariaceae: the non-parasitic Digitalis purpurea L. and the hemiparasite Melampyrum pratense L. PCR products were digested with BamHI restriction enzyme and no changes were shown in the localization of the restriction site whatever the species assayed. Identical restriction patterns were also observed with Tobacco and Digitalis PCR products restricted with PstI and KpnI, whereas Melampyrum and Lathraea exhibited a different restriction pattern with PstI. So, despite slight differences, some analogies between Lathraea and Digitalis or Tobacco gene were evidenced. Cloning and sequencing of these PCR products could give a more accurate response to the following question: to what extent have changes occurred in the rbcL gene in a plant which lacks chlorophyll?