Abstract
Our ability to generate single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) templates has been invaluable for procedures involving DNA sequencing and site-directed mutagenesis. Conventionally, this is carried out by subcloning the DNA region under analysis into vectors that are based on the single-stranded DNA bacteriophages, the most popular being M13. However, although these vectors are suitable for the production of ssDNA, they are less convenient to use than plasmids, giving lower yields of double-stranded dsDNA and lacking a positive selectable marker. The development of the so-called phagemid vectors combined the advantages of both plasmids and bacteriophages and stemmed from the work of Zinder (1), who demonstrated that a plasmid carrying that intergenic region of fl filamentous phage is packaged as ssDNA when the host cells are super-infected with helper phage. The first generation of phagemids, the pEMBL vectors, however, gave poor and n-reproducible ssDNA yields. This problem was resolved in two main ways: First, deletions within the intergenic region enhanced the replication of phagemids (2), and second, the packaging ratio of phagemid to helper phage was greatly improved by the use of helper phage with weak replication origins (3). As a result of these investigations, a new generation of phagemid vectors are available that impart both the stability and convenience of plasmid dsDNA cloning vectors and that may be readily mobilized to generate high yields of ssDNA.
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References
Dotto, G. P., Enea, V., and Zinder, N. D. (1981) Functional analysis of bacteriophage f1 intergenic region. Virology 114, 463–473.
Zagursky, R. J. and Berman, M. L. (1984) Cloning vectors that yield high levels of single-stranded DNA for rapid DNA sequencing. Gene 27, 183–191.
Vierra, J. and Messing, J. (1983) Productlon of single-stranded plasmid DNA. Meth. Enzymol. 153,3–11.
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© 1996 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ
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Trower, M.K. (1996). Preparation of ssDNA from Phagemid Vectors. In: Harwood, A.J. (eds) Basic DNA and RNA Protocols. Methods in Molecular Biology™, vol 58. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1385/0-89603-402-X:363
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/0-89603-402-X:363
Publisher Name: Humana Press
Print ISBN: 978-0-89603-402-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-251-7
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