Xylose reductase (XR, EC 1.1.1.21) is one of the key enzymes of xylose metabolism for the eukaryotic microorganism. The XR gene (xr) from Aspergillus oryzae was amplified by PCR and cloned (GenBank accession number: FJ957890.1). Then the similarity of amino acid sequences, phylogenetic trees, physic-chemical property and protein structure were analyzed bioinformatically. Sequence analysis reveals that the length of xr is 1449 bp, which contains 960 bp open reading frame encoding 319 amino acids. A. oryzae XR has high sequence identity with other strain XR. The presence of two aldo-keto reductase family signatures, a putative coenzyme-binding active site signature and a typical parallel beta-8/alpha-8-barrel tertiary structure suggests that XR is a member of aldo-keto reductase superfamily. The obtained information lays the basis for the expression of XR and further research on xylose metabolic regulation and widely industrial application of A. oryzae.