Abstract
This chapter has devised a simple strategy to quickly locate and express open reading frames. Using this approach, it is possible to identify protein coding regions without any extensive information about the products. One of the distinguishing features of deoxyribo nucleic acid (DNA) in protein-coding regions is the presence of at least one open reading frame (ORF). DNA sequences outside of protein-coding regions, such as intergenic regions and introns, rarely have long open reading frames. Typically, in order to identify and characterize a region of DNA, its sequence, ribo nucleic acid (RNA), or protein products are used to construct a molecular map. The approach described in this chapter can be used to locate coding regions whose products are either unknown or undetectable, starting with cloned or viral DNA. The same approach can be used to express any portion of either a poorly characterized or a well-characterized DNA or complementary DNA (cDNA). Antibodies can be made against polypeptide determinants encoded by the open reading frame sequences of the starting DNA.