The S-adenosylmethionine synthetase ( SAM synthetase) is responsible for in vivo synthesis of S-adenosylmethionine( SAM), which is a kind of biologically active molecules distributed in all body tissues and fluids and involved in a number of biochemical reactions. In this study, a cDNA containing the coding sequence for rat liver SAM synthetase was cloned into the prokaryotic expression vector pQE30 and expressed in E. coli M15. A major band corresponding to a protein of 48 kDa was detected on SDS-PAGE. The protein was distributed in both the soluble fraction and the insoluble fraction. In soluble fractions the protein was fully active.