The Caspase 3-like protease activity and TaeMCAⅡ gene expression during the process of programmed cell death (PCD) in wheat (Hua 8) endosperm under normal and waterlogging treatments were studied in this paper.The results indicated that,under normal treatments,the activity of Caspase 3-like protease was higher in the previous phase of endosperm PCD (12 DAF),and the protease was mainly located in amyloplasts of wheat endosperm cells,while the expression of TaeMCAⅡ gene was similar during endosperm PCD.The Caspase 3-like protease activity and the expression of TaeMCAⅡ gene were higher in wheat endosperm after waterlogging than control groups in same days after flowering.Above all,the Caspase 3-like protease participates in the PCD progression of control wheat endosperm.The rise of the overexpression of TaeMCAⅡ gene and Caspase 3-like activity may cause the endosperm PCD happened earlier under waterlogging.