The ImProm-II™ Reverse Transcription System is a convenient kit that includes a reverse transcriptase and an optimized set of reagents designed for efficient synthesis of first-strand cDNA in preparation for PCR amplification. The components of the ImProm-II™ Reverse Transcription System can be used to reverse transcribe RNA templates starting with either total RNA, poly(A)+ mRNA or synthetic transcript RNA. The optimized reaction buffer and powerful reverse transcriptase provided in the ImProm-II™ Reverse Transcription System enable robust, full-length cDNA synthesis for the reproducible analysis of rare or long messages. These conditions have been developed for cDNA synthesis or for easy transition to gene-specific target amplification.