Granted Patent B2

US 7,723,077 · App. 11/502,746 · Granted May 25, 2010

Assignee: Synthetic Genomics, Inc.

Abstract

Claims (46)

1. An in vitro method, using isolated proteins, for joining two double strand (ds) DNA molecules of interest, comprising:

providing a first DNA molecule and a second dsDNA molecule which share a region of sequence identity at a terminal end on each DNA molecule, wherein the region is less than about 150 base pairs in length; and

contacting the two dsDNA molecules with:

(a) a purified 5′ exonuclease;

(b) a purified single stranded DNA binding protein (SSB) which accelerates nucleic acid annealing;

(c) a purified non strand-displacing DNA polymerase; and

(d) a purified ligase,

under conditions whereby:

a 3′ single-stranded overhang is generated in each molecule by the exonuclease without the use of a restriction enzyme;

the two single-stranded overhangs anneal to form a gapped molecule;

the gaps are filled in by the polymerase; and

nicks are sealed by the ligase, thereby joining the molecules and forming a substantially intact double stranded DNA molecule, in which a single copy of the region of sequence identity is retained, wherein none of the enzymatic reactions is actively terminated prior to beginning another of the reactions.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the 3′ single stranded overhangs comprise the region of sequence identity.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the proteins of (a), (b), (c) and (d) are contacted simultaneously with the DNA molecules.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the proteins of (b), (c) and (d) are contacted simultaneously or sequentially, in any order, with the DNA molecules, and the protein of (a) is contacted last.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the proteins are contacted with the DNA molecules sequentially, in the following order: (b), (d), (c), and (a).

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the exonuclease activity is substantially lower than the activity of the DNA polymerase, such that the gaps are filled in by the polymerase immediately as they are formed.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein

(a) the 5′ exonuclease is the phage T7 gene 6 product, RedA of lambda phage, or RecE of Rac prophage;

(b) the SSB is the phage T7 gene 2.5 product, the E. coli recA protein, RedS of lambda phage, or RecT of Rac prophage;

(c) the DNA polymerase is the phage T7 gene 5 product, phage T4 DNA polymerase, or E coli pol I; and/or

(d) the ligase is the phage T7 gene 1.3 product, phage T4 DNA ligase, or E coli DNA ligase.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the four proteins of (a), (b), (c), and (d) function in a concerted manner.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the DNA molecules to be joined are generated synthetically.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein:

the DNA molecules to be joined comprise adjacent portions of a gene or genome of interest and are synthesized so as to comprise overlapping regions of sequence identity at their ends; and

the joining reaction joins the DNA molecules to form part or all of a synthetic gene or genome.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the regions of sequence identity are added to the DNA molecules to be joined by PCR amplification.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising subjecting the joined DNA molecules to a sizing procedure, isolating DNA molecules of a desired length, and introducing the isolated DNA molecules into a cell of interest.

13. The method of claim 1 , which is a method for inserting a DNA fragment of interest into a linearized vector to form a circular molecule, further comprising adding sequences by PCR amplification to each end of the substantially intact double-stranded DNA molecule, which sequences added by PCR amplification are identical to sequences on either end of the linearized vector.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the region of sequence identity is about 40 base pairs in length.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the proteins of (a), (b), (c), and (d) are contacted with the DNA molecules in a single reaction vessel.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the 5′ exonuclease is the phage T7 gene 6 product, RedA of lambda phage, or RecE of Rac prophage.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the 5′ exonuclease is the T7 gene 6 product.

18. An in vitro method for joining more than two double stranded (ds) DNA molecules in a defined orientation and order, comprising

(a) selecting the more than two DNA molecules such that, for each pair of molecules to be joined, the molecules share a region of sequence identity at terminal ends, wherein each region of sequence identity is unique for each pair of DNA molecules to be joined; and

(b) contacting the DNA molecules in a reaction mixture in a single reaction vessel with

(i) a purified 5′ exonuclease;

(ii) a purified single stranded DNA binding protein (SSB) which accelerates nucleic acid annealing;

(iii) a purified non strand-displacing DNA polymerase; and

(iv) a purified ligase, under conditions whereby:

a 3′ single-stranded overhang is generated in each molecule by the exonuclease without the use of a restriction enzyme;

the single-stranded overhangs anneal to form a gapped molecule;

the gaps are filled in by the polymerase; and

nicks are sealed by the ligase, thereby joining the plurality of DNA molecules to form a substantially intact duplex DNA molecule in which a copy of each region of sequence identity is retained, wherein none of the enzymatic reactions is actively terminated prior to beginning another of the reactions.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the more than two dsDNA molecules comprise at least 10 molecules and the region of identity is from about 150 to 300 base pairs in length.

Assignments (11)

Continuity (2)