A genomic clone encoding the NADP-malate dehydrogenase precursor has been isolated from a Sorghum vulgare lambda EMBL4 library using a cDNA probe. The entire structure of this nuclear gene (4.6 kb) encoding the 429-amino acid precursor is reported, as well as 602 bp of the 5'-flanking and 695 bp of the 3'-flanking regions. The gene is interrupted by 13 introns from 79 to 495 bp in length. S1 nuclease mapping showed the S. vulgare gene transcript to contain an untranslated leader sequence of 44 nucleotides. In the 5'-flanking region, several short sequences similar to the consensus motifs involved in the light-regulation process of other plant genes were found.