By analysis of the conserved elements in yeast U14 boxC/D snoRNA, the conserved elements in rice U14 boxC/D snoRNA have been speculated. Through computer search of the international rice genome database, two rice U14 snoRNA gene candidates are obtained. These two putative U14 snoRNA genes are closely linked on rice chromosome 2. The coding sequences of these two snoRNAs exhibit the hallmark structure of boxC/D antisense snoRNA. They both have conserved boxC and boxD sequences and a 14nt-long complement to the sequence between 414nt and 427nt of rice 18S rRNA (according to GenBank accession no. X00755). The experimental evidence shows that these two snoRNAs are involved in the methylation of the complementary sequence of rice 18S rRNA. The existence and localization of these two snoRNAs are proved by RT-PCR and Northern blot. Further analysis shows that both of the newly found rice snoRNAs have high homology with maize U14 snoRNA, and they are named rice U14.1 snoRNA and U14.2 snoRNA respectively. The gene sequence encoding these two snoRNAs has been deposited in the GenBank database under accession number of AF332622.