title: Multienzyme nested deletion (MEND) technique for creation of unidirectional deletions in cloned DNA.
abstract: An alternative method to construct nested unidirectional deletions of cloned DNA is presented. The multi-enzyme nested deletion technique exploits the fact that the 6-base recognition enzyme ClaI produces termini compatible with at least five restriction enzymes that have different 4-base recognition sequences. A plasmid deletion cloning vector with a ClaI site in the polylinker is linearized with ClaI and then cut with a second enzyme to yield incompatible ends. Directionally cloned insert DNA (in this example SfiI and NotI) is partially digested with one or several of the 4-base recognition enzymes AciI, HinP1I, MaeII, MspI, or TaqI. An aliquot of this partial digest is ligated into SfiI/ClaI cut vector to yield deletions from the NotI end of the insert. Another aliquot is ligated into ClaI/NotI cut vector to yield deletions from the SfiI end of the insert. In general, one of these 4-base cutters will yield deletion clones useful for manual DNA sequencing (i.e., deletions of 300-400 bp or less). It is also simple to perform partial digestion with two enzymes simultaneously if required.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg 39406-5018.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shearer
mesh_terms: D018076:DNA, Complementary / Q000235:genetics*; D015252:Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific / Q000494:pharmacology*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D018076:DNA, Complementary; C032824:ATCGAT-specific type II deoxyribonucleases; D015252:Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific