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E. coli Plasmid Vectors pp 67–73Cite as

Cosmid Packaging and Infection of E. coli

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Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology™ ((MIMB,volume 235))

Abstract

Cosmids are cloning vectors that were developed to enable large fragments of DNA to be cloned and maintained (1–3). Cosmid vectors allow the cloning of fragments up to 45 kilobases (kb) and are commonly used in genomic library construction. The distinguishing feature of a cosmid is the presence of bacteriophage λ cos sites, which enable the vector, and cloned genomic DNA, to be packaged into bacteriophage heads (1,4). Cosmids also contain several other components, including a drug-resistance marker that is necessary for the selection of cosmid-containing bacteria, a plasmid origin of replication, usually ColE1, which regulates cosmid replication and copy number within the Escherichia coli host (1,5), and restriction sites that facilitate cloning of the desired DNA fragments and insert verification by restriction digestion (see Fig. 1).

Representation of a general cosmid vector.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, IL

    Mallory J. A. White & Wade A. Nichols

Authors
  1. Mallory J. A. White
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  2. Wade A. Nichols
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of California at Berkeley, School of Public Health, Berkeley, CA

    Nicola Casali

  2. Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Andrew Preston

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© 2003 Humana Press Inc.

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White, M.J.A., Nichols, W.A. (2003). Cosmid Packaging and Infection of E. coli . In: Casali, N., Preston, A. (eds) E. coli Plasmid Vectors. Methods in Molecular Biology™, vol 235. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1385/1-59259-409-3:67

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/1-59259-409-3:67

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-58829-151-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-409-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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