Recombinant restriction enzymes

Workers in the early 1970s recognized that restriction enzymes provided tools not only for DNA mapping but also for constmction of new DNA species not found in nature. A collection of recombinant DNA species consisting of many passenger sequences joined to identical vector molecules is called a hbrary. Individual recombinant DNAs are isolated from single clones of the Hbrary for detailed analysis and manipulation. 

After a desired clone is obtained and mapped with restriction enzymes, further analysis usually depends on the deterrnination of its nucleotide sequence. The nucleotide sequence of a new gene often provides clues to its function and the stmcture of the gene product. Additionally, the DNA sequence of a gene provides a guidepost for further manipulation of the sequence, for example, lea ding to the production of a recombinant protein in bacteria. 

This approach is not restricted to bacterial or viral cells. Mammalian cells under highly proliferating conditions can be cultured at increasing exposure to a compound in attempts to create resistant mutants. Alternatively, one can sometimes use a structural biology approach to predict amino acid changes that would abrogate inhibitor affinity from study of enzyme-inhibitor complex crystal structures. If the recombinant mutant enzyme displays the diminished inhibitor potency expected, one can then devise ways of expressing the mutant enzyme in a cell type of interest and look to see if the cellular phenotype is likewise abolished by the mutation. 

Each of the -6000 PCR products was then co-transformed into yeast along with the recipient vector that had been linearized using a restriction enzyme that digests the plasmid at the desired cloning site. The 70 bp of homologous flanking sequence on each end of the PCR products is sufficient for the yeast homologous recombination system to act upon and insert the PCR product into the vector (Hudson et al., 1997 Ma et al., 1987). 

Liu, Q Li, M. Z., Leibham, D., Cortez, D., and Elledge, S. J. (1998). The univector plasmid-fusion system, a method for rapid construction of recombinant DNA without restriction enzymes. Current Biology 8, 1300-1309. 

Generating a RECOMBINANT-DNA molecule using restriction enzymes to generate ends that can be joined in a specific fashion. 

This activity is intended to be performed in conjunction with Experiment 66. Restriction endonucleases, or restriction enzymes, cleave DNA at specific base sequences, fragmenting the DNA into smaller pieces. The two strands of a DNA double helix are cleaved at different places, resulting in uneven fragments called sticky ends. Cleavage of DNA by restriction enzymes is a required first step in various types of DNA analysis, including DNA fingerprinting and recombinant DNA technology. 

Some bacteria are able to take up DNA from their surroundings and exchange regions with their own DNA. This recombination is the basis of a primitive sexual process known as transformation. However, recombination with DNA from species other than the same as the bacterium is unlikely to be beneficial and it is likely that restriction enzymes have evolved to destroy such foreign DNA. 

Cloning would not be possible without restriction enzymes. DNA chains with a "sticky" end act like molecular "Velcro", thereby enabling two pieces of DNA with complementary nucleotide sequences to be joined together. The linking of the DNA strands is brought about by the enzyme DNAligase which permanently joins the assembled DNA sequences with covalent bonds, thereby producing a recombinant DNA molecule. 

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