Rapid production of full-length cDNAs from rare transcripts: amplification using a single gene-specific oligonucleotide primer.

We have devised a simple and efficient cDNA cloning strategy that overcomes many of the difficulties encountered in obtaining full-length cDNA clones of low-abundance mRNAs. In essence, cDNAs are generated by using the DNA polymerase chain reaction technique to amplify copies of the region between a single point in the transcript and the 3' or 5' end. The minimum information required for this amplification is a single short stretch of sequence within the mRNA to be cloned. Since the cDNAs can be produced in one day, examined by Southern blotting the next, and readily cloned, large numbers of full-length cDNA clones of rare transcripts can be rapidly produced. Moreover, separation of amplified cDNAs by gel electrophoresis allows precise selection by size prior to cloning and thus facilitates the isolation of cDNAs representing variant mRNAs, such as those produced by alternative splicing or by the use of alternative promoters. The efficacy of this method was demonstrated by isolating cDNA clones of mRNA from int-2, a mouse gene that expresses four different transcripts at low abundance, the longest of which is approximately 2.9 kilobases. After less than 0.05% of the cDNAs produced had been screened, 29 independent int-2 clones were isolated. Sequence analysis demonstrated that the 3' and 5' ends of all four int-2 mRNAs were accurately represented by these clones.