title: A new method for rapidly generating gene-targeting vectors by engineering BACs through homologous recombination in bacteria.
abstract: Generating knockout mice is still an expensive and highly time-consuming process. Target construct generation, the first labor-intensive step in this process, requires the manipulation of large fragments of DNA and numerous, and often cumbersome, cloning steps. Here we show the development of a rapid approach for generating targeting constructs that capitalizes on efficient homologous recombination between linear DNA fragments and circular plasmids in Escherichia coli ("recombineering"), the availability of bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs), and the accessibility of the sequence of the mouse genome. Employing recombineering, we demonstrate with only 1-2 template plasmids, short homologies (40-50bp) between donor and target DNA, and one subcloning step that we can efficiently manipulate BACs in situ to generate a complicated targeting vector. This procedure avoids the need to construct or screen genomic libraries and permits the generation of most standard, conditional, or knock-in targeting vectors, often within two weeks.
authors.affiliation: Gastrointestinal Unit and the Center for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Vinicius
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cotta-de-Almeida
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schonhoff
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shibata
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leiter
authors.forename: Scott B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Snapper
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D022202:Chromosomes, Artificial, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics*; D018390:Gene Targeting / Q000379:methods*; D005818:Genetic Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D051379:Mice; D053473:Nod2 Signaling Adaptor Protein; D011995:Recombination, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; C429018:NOD2 protein, human; D053473:Nod2 Signaling Adaptor Protein