High-throughput, cost-effective verification of structural DNA assembly

DNA 'assembly' from 'building blocks' remains a cornerstone in synthetic biology, whether it be for gene synthesis (∼ 1 kb), pathway engineering (∼ 10 kb) or synthetic genomes (>100 kb). Despite numerous advances in the techniques used for DNA assembly, verification of the assembly is still a necessity, which becomes cost-prohibitive and a logistical challenge with increasing scale. Here we describe for the first time a comprehensive, high-throughput solution for structural DNA assembly verification by restriction digest using exhaustive in silico enzyme screening, rolling circle amplification of plasmid DNA, capillary electrophoresis and automated digest pattern recognition. This low-cost and robust methodology has been successfully used to screen over 31 000 clones of DNA constructs at <$1 per sample.