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BREAKTHROUGH TECHNOLOGIES

A Versatile Zero Background T-Vector System for Gene Cloning and Functional Genomics^{1,[C],[W],[OA]}

Department of Plant Pathology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210 (S.C., P.S., J.L., G.-L.W.); and Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Crop Germplasm Innovation and Utilization, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China (G.-L.W.)

With the recent availability of complete genomic sequences of many organisms, high-throughput and cost-efficient systems for gene cloning and functional analysis are in great demand. Although site-specific recombination-based cloning systems, such as Gateway cloning technology, are extremely useful for efficient transfer of DNA fragments into multiple destination vectors, the two-step cloning process is time consuming and expensive. Here, we report a zero background TA cloning system that provides simple and high-efficiency direct cloning of PCR-amplified DNA fragments with almost no self-ligation. The improved T-vector system takes advantage of the restriction enzyme XcmI to generate a T-overhang after digestion and the negative selection marker gene ccdB to eliminate the self-ligation background after transformation. We demonstrate the feasibility and flexibility of the technology by developing a set of transient and stable transformation vectors for constitutive gene expression, gene silencing, protein tagging, protein subcellular localization detection, and promoter fragment activity analysis in plants. Because the system can be easily adapted for developing specialized expression vectors for other organisms, zero background TA provides a general, cost-efficient, and high-throughput platform that complements the Gateway cloning system for gene cloning and functional genomics.

The author responsible for distribution of materials integral to the findings presented in this article in accordance with the policy described in the Instructions for Authors (www.plantphysiol.org) is: Guo-Liang Wang (wang.620{at}osu.edu).

^[C] Some figures in this article are displayed in color online but in black and white in the print edition.

^[W] The online version of this article contains Web-only data.

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www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/doi/10.1104/pp.109.137125

^* Corresponding author; e-mail wang.620{at}osu.edu.

Received February 14, 2009; accepted April 21, 2009; published April 29, 2009.