Combinatorial assembly of clone libraries using site-specific recombination

Abstract

Generation of DNA clones for use in proteomic and genomic research often requires a significant level of parallel production, as the number of downstream options for these experiments increases. Where a single fluorescently tagged construct may have sufficed before, there is now the need for multiple types of labels for different readouts and different assays. Protein expression, which once utilized a very small set of vectors because of low throughput expression and purification, has now rapidly matured into a high throughput system in which dozens of conditions can be tested in parallel to identify the best candidate clones. This has returned the bottleneck in many of these technologies to the generation of DNA clones, and standard cloning techniques often dramatically limit the throughput and success of such processes. In order to overcome this bottleneck, higher-throughput and more parallel cloning processes need to be developed which would allow rapid, inexpensive production of final clones. In addition, there is a strong need to utilize standardized elements to avoid unnecessarily remaking fragments of clones that could be used in multiple constructs. The advent of recombinational cloning helped to increase the parallel processing of DNA clones, but was still limited by the need to generate different vector backbones for each specific need. The solution to this problem emerged with the introduction of combinatorial approaches to clone construction, based on either homologous or site-specific recombination processes. In particular, the Gateway Multisite system provides all of the necessary components for a highly parallel, inexpensive, rapid, and diverse platform for clone construction in many areas of proteomic and genomic research. Here we describe our optimized system for combinatorial cloning, including improvements in cloning protocols and construct design that permit users to easily generate libraries of clones which can be combined in parallel to create an unlimited number of final constructs. The system is capable of utilizing the tens of thousands of commercially available Gateway clones already in existence, and allows easy adaptation of most DNA vectors to the system.