Restriction mapping of synthetic thyroglobulin structural gene as a means of investigating thyroglobulin structure.

Bovine 33 S thyroglobulin mRNA was reverse transcribed into double-stranded DNA under conditions allowing the synthesis of a complete 8 kilobase pair copy. A physical map of the resulting synthetic thyroglobulin structural gene was constructed using six restriction endonucleases. The following conclusions could be drawn: (i) the polypeptide chains in thyroglobulin subunits are identical; (ii) thyroglobulin is composed of a major class of molecules sharing the same primary structure; (iii) there is no evidence for precise internal repetition in the structure of thyroglobulin subunits.