Synthesis of a Deoxyribonucleic Acid Sequence Complementary to Ovalbumin Messenger Ribonucleic Acid and Quantification of Ovalbumin Genes

DNA was synthesized in vitro from a template of purified ovalbumin messenger RNA. The DNA product is complementary to a homogeneous sequence specific for ovalbumin. The amount of ovalbumin sequence in hen oviduct and hen liver DNA was measured by hybridization experiments and found to be 2 copies per diploid genome in both tissues, indicating that there is no selective amplification of ovalbumin genes in the tissue specialized for obalbumin synthesis.