mRNA coding for the catalytic (C) subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (ATP: protein phosphotransferase, EC 2.7.1.37) was partially purified from bovine testis by polysome immunoadsorption and oligo(dT)-chromatography. This enriched mRNA preparation was used to prepare and differentially screen a cDNA library. One of the selected cDNA clones was shown to hybrid-select mRNA coding for a 40-kDa protein that was specifically precipitated with antibodies to the C subunit. This bovine cDNA clone was then used to isolate a series of mouse cDNA clones that are complementary to the entire mouse C subunit mRNA. The mouse clones code for a protein of 351 amino acids that shows 98% homology to the bovine C subunit and hybridize to a single mRNA of 2.4 kilobases in mouse heart and brain. Southern blot analysis of total genomic DNA suggests that there is a single mouse gene coding for the C subunit. mRNA levels for both the C subunit and the type I regulatory subunit in various mouse tissues and cell lines were quantitated and compared by using single-stranded RNA probes prepared with SP6 polymerase.