IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,378,548
Granted Patent B2
US 12,378,548 · App. 18/439,353 · Granted Aug 5, 2025

Methods and compositions for cell-free cloning

Inventor: Matthew Hill (Los Altos, CA)
Assignee: Elegen Corporation
C12N15/1065
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,378,548
App. No.
18/439,353
Granted
Aug 5, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

The present disclosure provides methods and compositions for cell free cloning and polynucleotide production. In illustrative aspects, the methods of the present disclosure comprise the use of molecular barcodes and a dilution step. Moreover, some aspects of the instant disclosure relate to systems and kits comprising molecular barcodes for use with methods of cell free cloning and polynucleotide production.

Claims (46)

1. A method of generating a population of polynucleotides, wherein the method comprises:

(a) separately in each of a set of initial sources of nucleic acid molecules comprising the nucleic acid molecules and a set of between 3 to 1000 unique, non-degenerate barcodes, performing a tagging reaction to produce a set of source samples each comprising at least 1×10 6 tagged candidate nucleic acid molecules,

wherein each of the tagged candidate nucleic acid molecules comprises a tag comprising one or more of the non-degenerate barcodes;

(b) diluting a subvolume of each source sample of the set of source samples to form a set of diluted samples each having a target number of the tagged candidate nucleic acid molecules isolated from each source sample in the set of source samples, wherein the target number of the tagged candidate nucleic acid molecules isolated from each source sample is between 10 and 2000 nucleic acid molecules;

(c) combining a portion of each diluted sample in the set of diluted samples to form a combined diluted sample, wherein the combined diluted sample comprises tagged candidate nucleic acid species derived from one or more of the tagged candidate nucleic acid molecules from each diluted sample of the set of diluted samples, wherein the nucleic acid molecules of each tagged candidate nucleic acid species have an identical nucleic acid sequence comprising the nucleic acid sequence of the one or more tagged candidate nucleic acid molecules from which it was derived, and wherein at least one of the tagged candidate nucleic acid species from each diluted sample in the combined diluted sample is uniquely tagged;

(d) determining the sequence of at least some of the tagged candidate nucleic acid species from each of the diluted samples in the combined diluted, wherein at least 1 of the tagged candidate nucleic acid species from each diluted sample in the combined diluted sample is a desired uniquely tagged nucleic acid species, wherein the desired uniquely tagged nucleic acid species comprise a sequence-perfect desired nucleic acid sequence; and

(e) enriching the desired uniquely tagged nucleic acid species from each diluted sample of the set of diluted samples by amplifying in each diluted sample one or more tagged candidate nucleic acid molecules of the desired uniquely tagged nucleic acid species using one or more primers that bind one or more of the barcodes on the tagged candidate nucleic acid molecules of the desired uniquely tagged nucleic acid species to generate a set of populations of product polynucleotides.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the source sample comprises at least 1×10 7 tagged candidate nucleic acid molecules, and wherein the ratio of unique non-degenerate barcode combinations in tags, to candidate nucleic acid molecules in the source sample is between 1:1×10 4 and 1:1×10 7 .

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein at least 90% of the product polynucleotides in the population of product polynucleotides have the sequence-perfect desired nucleic acid sequence.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the target number is determined based on the number of unique non-degenerate barcodes in the set of unique, non-degenerate barcodes or unique nondegenerate barcode combinations selected from the set of unique, non-degenerate barcodes, and wherein the target number is less than the number of unique non-degenerate barcodes in the set of unique, non-degenerate barcodes or unique non-degenerate barcode combinations selected from the set of non-degenerate barcodes.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the tagged candidate nucleic acid molecules comprise a tag comprising a combination of at least two of the unique, non-degenerate barcodes and the enriching the desired uniquely tagged nucleic acid species comprises amplifying the one or more tagged candidate nucleic acid molecules of the desired uniquely tagged nucleic acid species using nested PCR with primers that bind two or more of the at least two non-degenerate barcodes on one side of the one or more tagged candidate nucleic acid molecules of the desired uniquely tagged nucleic acid species in successive PCR reactions to generate the population of product polynucleotides.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the enriching is performed using pre-made primers.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sequence is determined for less than 1×10 6 tagged candidate nucleic acid species.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the sequence is determined for between 10 and 100,000 tagged candidate nucleic acid species.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acid sequence is determined for each tagged candidate nucleic acid species in the diluted sample.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the sequence is performed to an average depth of read of at least 30 per base per tagged candidate nucleic acid species.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acid molecules in the initial sources of nucleic acid molecules have a length, and wherein said length is between 0.2 kilobases (kb) and 1 kb.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the desired uniquely tagged nucleic acid sequence comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of:

(i) a secondary structure and wherein the secondary structure is a stem, hairpin, internal loop, or a pseudoknot and/or a high secondary structure percentage,

(ii) a GC content 25% or less for a stretch of at least 25 nucleotides of, or for the entire desired nucleic acid sequence,

(iii) a GC content of 75% or more for a stretch of at least 25 nucleotides of, or for the entire desired nucleic acid sequence,

(iv) a homopolymeric run of 10 or more As or Ts,

(v) a homopolymeric run of 6 or more Gs or Cs,

(vi) a repeat sequence of at least 6 nucleotides that is repeated 5 times,

(vii) a repeat sequence of at least 8 nucleotides that is repeated at least 2 times,

(viii) a repeat sequence comprising a tandem repeat sequence, and

(ix) an inverted repeat sequence of at least 6 nucleotides.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the non-degenerate barcodes is not unique to one of the tagged candidate nucleic acid species in the diluted sample.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising removing the tag from the populations of product polynucleotides.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the nucleic acid molecules of the set of initial source sample comprises at least one adapter.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein at least one adapter is attached to a 5′ end and/or a 3′ end of at least one of the nucleic acid molecules of the set of initial source samples.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tagging reaction comprises adding the one or more of the non-degenerate barcodes to the nucleic acid molecules by Splicing by Overhang Extension (SOE) or Polymerase Cycling Assembly (PCA).

18. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

assembling the set of populations of product polynucleotides to form a population of subsequent product polynucleotides, wherein each subsequent product polynucleotide is between 1 kb and 50 kb in length.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the assembling the set of population of product polynucleotides to form the population of subsequent polynucleotides is performed using a method selected from the group consisting of: (i) polymerase cycling assembly (PCA), and (ii) isothermal assembly.

20. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, before the tagging reaction, performing an assembly reaction comprising assembling two or more of the nucleic acid molecules in at least one of the initial sources.

21. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, concurrently with the tagging reaction, performing an assembly reaction comprising assembling two or more of the nucleic acid molecules in at least one of the initial sources.

22. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tagged candidate nucleic acid molecules have a length between 0.2 kilobases (kb) and 50 kb.

23. The method of claim 20 , wherein the assembly reaction comprises the assembling the two or more of the nucleic acid molecules by SOE or PCA.

24. The method of claim 21 , wherein the assembly reaction comprises the assembling the two or more of the nucleic acid molecules by SOE or PCA.

25. The method of claim 1 , wherein, prior to determining the sequence of at least some of the tagged candidate nucleic acid species, amplifying the tagged candidate nucleic acid species.

26. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining the sequence comprises long-read sequencing.

27. The method of claim 18 , wherein the assembling the set of population of product polynucleotides to form the population of subsequent polynucleotides is performed using circular DNA assembly.

28. The method of claim 18 , wherein the assembling the set of population of product polynucleotides to form the population of subsequent polynucleotides is performed using ligase cycling reaction (LCR).

29. The method of claim 18 , wherein the assembling the set of population of product polynucleotides to form the population of subsequent polynucleotides is performed using a method selected from the group consisting of (i) bacterial recombination, and (ii) yeast homologous recombination.

30. The method of claim 18 , wherein the assembling the set of population of product polynucleotides to form the population of subsequent polynucleotides is performed using overlap extension PCR.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 12, 2024
From: HILL, MATTHEW
To: ELEGEN CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 066444/0130 →
Continuity (4)
Continuation 18336283 · Jun 16, 2023
Continuation PCTUS2022071707 · Apr 13, 2022
Provisional Application 63174192 · Apr 13, 2021
Related Publication 20240229016A1 · Jul 11, 2024
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