Open AccessCosmids: a type of plasmid gene-cloning vector that is packageable in vitro in bacteriophage lambda heads.
Author(s) -
John Collins,
Barbara Höhn
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.75.9.4242
Subject(s) - plasmid , cosmid , biology , multiple cloning site , bacteriophage , microbiology and biotechnology , dna , in vitro recombination , shuttle vector , cloning vector , genetics , cloning (programming) , vector (molecular biology) , molecular cloning , gene , escherichia coli , recombinant dna , gene expression , computer science , programming language
Evidence is presented that ColE1 hybrid plasmids carrying the cohesive-end site (cos) of lambda can be used as gene cloning vectors in conjunction with the lambda in vitro packaging system of Hohn and Murray [(1977) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 74, 3259--3263]. Due to the requirement for a large DNA molecule for efficient packaging, there is a direct selection for hybrids carrying large sections of foreign DNA. The small vector plasmids do not contribute a large background in the transduced population, which is therefore markedly enriched for large hybrid plasmids (over 90%). The efficiency of the in vitro packaging system is on the order of 10(5) hybrid clones per microgram of foreign DNA for hybrids in the 20--30 million dalton range.