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[The selective isolation of cosmid clones by homologous recombination in Escherichia coli--a cosmid clone containing t complex linkage DNA sequence of mouse was isolated].

A procedure for the selective isolation of specific cosmid clones by homologous recombination between cosmid clones of genomic library and a probe DNA sequence cloned in a plasmid in vivo has been developed. The cosmid library was constructed in a rec- host cell strain and packaged into phage particles in vivo. The rec+ host cells containing a DNA sequence used as selection probe cloned in the pUC plasmid were infected by packaged cosmid phage particles. There is no homology between cosmid and the plasmid vectors. After a period of 1-3 hr. for the recombination to take place, the probe plasmids were integrated into cosmid, in which the DNA sequence are homologous with the probe, by homologous recombination. The cosmids are then packaged in vivo and transferred into a rec- cell strain. The specific cosmid clones were selected by double antibiotic resistance carried by both vectors. The probe plasmid can be excised by lambda excision enzyme by using superinfection with red+ phage. After packaging in vivo, these cosmid revertants can be identified on Xgal plate. A cosmid clone containing the t complex linkage DNA sequence of mouse was selected by using the procedure above with a probe derived from microdissected metaphase chromosome.

Animals

Efficient simplified cosmid cloning: construction and characterization of cosmid vectors that carry the two cohesive end sites of lambda phages arrayed in tandem.

We constructed a series of cosmid vectors that carry the two cohesive end sites (cos) of lambda phage, arrayed in tandem, which enabled us to clone fragments of genomic DNA of up to 50 kb without a vector background. An equimolar mixture of the left and right vector arms of equal length was prepared from the vector DNA, simply by treating the DNA sequentially with three enzymes, restriction enzyme PvuII, alkaline phosphatase, and restriction enzyme BamHI (or BglII), without purification by agarose gel electrophoresis. After phenol extraction and ethanol precipitation, the equimolar mixture of the vector arms, which carried a single cos oriented from left to right, was directly ligated with insert DNA without further manipulation. We established conditions for cosmid cloning, using two kinds of DNA fragment of 40-50 kb, prepared from mouse L cell genomic DNA, as insert DNAs, namely, three cloned BamHI fragments and Sau3AI fragments, size-selected on a sucrose density gradient. The most important parameters affecting the cloning efficiency were the quality of the insert DNA and the molar ratio of the insert and vector arms. We achieved cloning efficiencies of 3.6 X 10(6)-1.3 X 10(7) colony forming units (cfu)/micrograms of insert DNA and 1.7 X 10(5)-1.0 X 10(6) cfu/micrograms of insert DNA, using the cloned BamHI fragments and the Sau3AI fragments, respectively. We examined more than 5000 clones and found that they all contained insert DNA.

Animals

An F-derived conjugative cosmid: analysis of tra polypeptides in cosmid-infected cells.

The genes involved in the conjugational transfer of F plasmid DNA are organized into three closely linked operons spanning an overall length of approximately 33 kilobase pairs of F. The entire transfer (tra) region comprising all three operons has been cloned into the cosmid vector pHC79 by in vitro recombination and packaging techniques. The transfer-proficient chimeric cosmid pRS2405 was packaged into lambda capsids, and uv-irradiated E. coli cells were infected with these DNA-filled particles. A number of polypeptides programmed by the infecting DNA were identified as tra-specified products; a traJ90 mutation on pRS2405 resulted in the significant reduction of synthesis of all detectable pRS2405-specified tra polypeptides, with the exception of TraTp.

Bacterial Proteins

Phage particle-mediated gene transfer of recombinant cosmids to cultured mammalian cells.

An efficient procedure for the introduction of recombinant cosmids into cultured mammalian cells consists of the following steps. Cosmids were packaged, in vitro, into lambda phage particles and transduced into Escherichia coli hosts lysogenized with thermo-inducible lambda c Its phage. The introduced cosmids were repackaged into phage particles in the thermo-induced hosts. The efficiency of such in vivo cosmid packaging was further improved by construction of pTC vectors that carried three cohesive end sites (cos) of phage lambda, arrayed in tandem. Two types of cosmids, in almost equal numbers (i.e., cosmids with one cos and cosmids with two cos), were obtained from a cosmid library constructed with pTC vectors. The efficiency of packaging in vivo of cosmids with two cos, was found to be 7-20 times higher than that of corresponding cosmids with only one cos. Use of a high-copy-number derivative of pTCl further improved the phage yield by 20- to 30-fold. The packaged cosmids, which carried the thymidine kinase-encoding gene of herpes simplex virus type 1 as a selective marker, were introduced into mouse Ltk- cells with an efficiency of 10(-5), by the phage transfer method [Ishiura et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 2 (1982) 607-616].

Animals

Cosmid linking clones localized to the long arm of human chromosome 11.

Molecular probes that contain DNA flanking CpG-rich restriction sites are extremely valuable in the construction of physical maps of chromosomes and in the identification of genes associated with hypomethylated HTF (HpaII tiny fragment) islands. We describe a new approach to the isolation and characterization of linking clones in arrayed chromosome-specific cosmid libraries through the large-scale semiautomated restriction mapping of cosmid clones. We utilized a cosmid library representing human chromosome 11q12-11qter and carried out automated restriction enzyme analysis, followed by regional localization to chromosome 11q using high-resolution in situ suppression hybridization. Using this approach, 165 cosmid linking clones containing one or more NotI, BssHII, SfiI, or SacII sites were identified among 960 chromosome-specific cosmids. Furthermore, this analysis allowed clones containing a single site to be distinguished from those containing clusters of two or more rare sites. This analysis demonstrated that more than 75% of cosmids containing a rare restriction site also contained a second rare restriction site, suggesting a high degree of CpG-rich restriction site clustering. Thirty chromosome 11q-specific cosmids containing rare CpG-rich restriction sites were regionally localized by high-resolution fluorescence in situ suppression hybridization, demonstrating that all of the CpG-rich sites detected by this method were located in bands 11q13 and 11q23. In addition, the distribution of (CA)n repetitive sequences was determined by hybridization of the arrayed cosmid library with oligonucleotide probes, confirming a random distribution of microsatellites among CpG-rich cosmid clones. This set of reagent cosmid clones will be useful for physical linking of large restriction fragments detected by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and will provide a new and highly efficient approach to the construction of a physical map of human chromosome 11q.

Chromosomes, Human, Pair 11

In vivo repackaging of recombinant cosmid molecules for analyses of Salmonella typhimurium, Streptococcus mutans, and mycobacterial genomic libraries.

Strains of Escherichia coli K-12 were constructed that permitted the amplification of in vitro-packaged recombinant cosmid-transducing particles by in vivo repackaging of recombinant cosmid molecules. Thermal induction of these thermoinducible, excision-defective lysogens containing recombinant cosmid molecules yielded high titers of packaged recombinant cosmids and low levels of PFU. These strains were used to amplify packaged recombinant cosmid libraries of Mycobacterium leprae, Mycobacterium vaccae, Salmonella typhimurium, and Streptococcus mutans DNA. Contiguous and noncontiguous libraries were compared for the successful identification of cloned genes. Construction of noncontiguous libraries allowed the dissociation of desired genes from genes that were deleterious to the survival of a cosmid recombinant and permitted selection for unlinked traits that resulted in a selected phenotype. In vivo repackaging of recombinant cosmids permitted amplification of the original in vitro-packaged collection of transducing particles, storage of cosmid libraries as phage lysates, facilitation of complementation screening, expression analysis of repackaged recombinant cosmids after UV-irradiated cells were infected, in situ enzyme or immunological screening, and facilitation of recovery of recombinant cosmid molecules containing transposon inserts.

ATP-Dependent Proteases

Localization of 616 human chromosome 3-specific cosmids using a somatic cell hybrid deletion mapping panel.

A total of 5700 human chromosome 3-specific cosmid clones was isolated from a series of cosmid libraries constructed from somatic cell hybrids whose only human component was an entire chromosome 3 or a chromosome 3 containing an interstitial deletion removing 50% of long arm sequences. Several unique sequence chromosome 3-specific hybridization probes were isolated from each of 616 of these cosmids. These probes were then used to localize the cosmids by hybridization to a somatic cell hybrid deletion mapping panel capable of resolving chromosome 3 into nine distinct subregions. All 616 of the cosmids were localized to either the long or short arm of chromosome 3 and 63% of the short arm cosmids were more precisely localized. We have identified a total of 87 cosmids that contain fragments that are evolutionarily conserved. Fragments from these cosmids should prove useful in the identification of new chromosome 3-specific genes as well as in comparative mapping studies. The localized cosmids should provide excellent saturation of human chromosome 3 and facilitate the construction of physical and genetic linkage maps to identify various disease loci including Von Hippel Lindau disease and renal and small cell lung carcinoma.

Animals

Constructing chromosome- and region-specific cosmid maps of the human genome.

A chromosome-specific ordered set of cosmids would be a significant contribution toward understanding human chromosome structure and function. We are developing two parallel approaches for creating an ordered cosmid library of human chromosome 19 and other selected subregions of the human genome. The "bottom up" approach is used to establish sets of overlapping cosmids as islands or "contigs" along the chromosome, while the "top down" approach, using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and yeast cloning, will establish a large-fragment map and close the inevitable gaps remaining from the "bottom up" approach. Source DNA consists of a single homolog of chromosome 19 from a hamster--human hybrid cell and human fragments cloned in yeast artificial chromosomes. We have constructed cosmid libraries in a vector that facilitates cloning small amounts of DNA, allows transcription of the insert termini, and contains unique sites for partial-digest mapping. Computer simulations of cosmid contig building suggest that near-optimal efficiency can be achieved with high-density restriction fragment digest schemes that can detect 20-30% overlap between cosmids. We developed the chemistry and data analysis tools to compare the ordering efficiencies of several cosmid restriction digest fingerprinting strategies. Restriction fragments from a four-cutter digest are labeled with a fluorochrome, separated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and detected after laser excitation as they traverse a fixed point in the gel. We have also developed the software to rapidly process the output signal to define and analyze the fragment peaks. Up to three cosmids (or three different digests of the same cosmid) plus a size standard are analyzed simultaneously in a single gel lane.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals

Four restriction fragment length polymorphisms revealed by probes from a single cosmid map to human chromosome 12q.

Human gene mapping would be greatly facilitated if marker loci with sufficient polymorphism information content were generally available. As a source of such markers, we have used cosmids from a human genomic library. We have used a rapid method for screening random cosmids to identify those homologous to genomic regions especially rich in restriction fragment length polymorphisms (Litt and White 1985). This method allows whole cosmids to be used as probes against Southern transfers of genomic DNA; regions of cosmid probes homologous to repeated genomic sequences are rendered unable to anneal with Southern transfers by prehybridization of the probes with a vast excess of non-radioactive genomic DNA. From one cosmid (C1-11) identified by this procedure, we have isolated four single-copy probes, each of which identifies a polymorphic locus. Despite the existence of some linkage disequilibrium in this system, the polymorphism information content was computed as 0.73. Using a somatic cell hybrid mapping panel, we have mapped probes from cosmid 1-11 to human chromosome 12q. Additionally, in situ hybridization of the whole cosmid to metaphase spreads allowed more precise assignment of the locus to the region 12cen----q13. The locus revealed by probes from cosmid 1-11 has been designated D12S6.

Animals

Studies on locus expansion, library representation, and chromosome walking using an efficient method to screen cosmid libraries.

We have developed an efficient screening method to search for clones in cosmid libraries prepared from human genomic DNA. Genomic, cDNA, and cosmid probes have been used to isolate homologous cosmids from human chromosomes 7, 10, 16, 17 and X as part of a search for polymorphic nucleotide sequences. This method has been successfully applied to chromosome walking experiments at the interstitial retinol-binding protein locus on chromosome 10, and may be a useful tool for investigating representation of cloned sequences in cosmid libraries. Our library was prepared in the vector c2RB (Bates and Swift, 1983), but the method is applicable to any cosmid cloning system in which the inserted DNA can be separated from the vector by restriction enzyme digestion. A cosmid library containing five human genome equivalents can be rapidly screened using three to four Southern hybridization filters. This results in substantial labor saving, particularly when screening genomes of high complexity with many different probes. Another advantage of the system is that it allows for the long-term storage of the cosmids so that they can be screened whenever necessary. As a consequence, cosmid screening can be made a routine laboratory procedure.

Blotting, Southern

Physical mapping of complex genomes by cosmid multiplex analysis.

A rapid and powerful approach for linking individual clones of a cosmid library and the assembly of a large physical map is presented, which depends on the simultaneous analysis of many cosmid clones for overlapping regions. This method uses cosmid vectors that contain endogenous bacteriophage T3 and T7 promoters to allow for the identification of overlapping clones through the synthesis of end-specific RNA probes. A genomic library is constructed and organized as an ordered matrix such that each clone is assigned an identifying coordinate. DNA from mixtures of cosmid clones is pooled such that each pool contains only one common member with any other pool, RNA probes are prepared from mixtures of cosmid clones, and groups of clones overlapping with the constituents of the mixtures are determined by hybridization. Pooled probes are most simply prepared by grouping clones according to the rows and columns of the library matrix. The pairwise comparison of data generated by the hybridization of mixed probes can be decoded by using simple algorithms that predict the order and linkage of all clones in the collection and organize them into predicted contigs. To demonstrate the feasibility of multiplexed analysis of cosmids, a genomic library was prepared from a mouse-human somatic cell hybrid that contains a portion of the long arm of human chromosome 11. Preparation, arrangement on a matrix, and analysis of pooled cosmid clones from this collection resulted in the detection of 1099 linked pairs of cosmids, which could be assembled into 315 contigs. Thus, with a minimal amount of effort, a substantial portion of this genomic region has been linked in multiple overlapping contigs. This method may have practical applications in the large-scale mapping and sequencing of mammalian genomes.

Animals

Isolation of large numbers of chromosome 3-specific cosmids containing clusters of rare restriction-endonuclease sites.

We tested 519 chromosome 3-specific cosmids for the presence of rare restriction-endonuclease sites in a search for cosmids containing HTF islands. We have identified 49 cosmids (9% of those tested) that contain multiple rare restriction-endonuclease sites. The cosmids were digested with several common cutting restriction endonucleases to liberate small fragments which were tested as unique-sequence chromosome 3-specific hybridization probes and for evolutionary sequence conservation. Unique-sequence hybridization probes isolated from the cosmids were hybridized to a somatic cell hybrid deletion mapping panel to subchromosomally localize the cosmids. Fragments from many of these cosmids demonstrated conservation of sequence through evolution, and these fragments hybridize to distinct transcripts. These cosmids should therefore prove a useful resource for the identification of many chromosome 3-specific genes, in addition to having potential use as linking clones for pulsed-field gel mapping studies.

Biological Evolution

The mapping of chromosomes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. I. A cosmid vector designed to establish, by cloning into cdc-mutants, numerous start loci for chromosome walking in the yeast genome.

A series of vectors for cosmid cloning in yeast has been derived from cosmid pHC79. Vectors pMT4 through pMT6 contain two tandemly arranged cohesive end sites (cos) from the genome of bacteriophage lambda. Their design allows the rapid and simple preparation of cosmid arms by linearizing a vector at the unique PvuII-restriction site located between the two cos-sequences and then cutting the linearized molecule at one of its unique cloning sites for BamHI, ClaI, PvuI, SalI or ScaI. Cosmids generated with arms from the most advanced vector, pMT6, carry the origin of replication (ori) and the ApR gene from pBR322 and the TRP1/ARS1 and URA1 genes from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A yeast genomic DNA library was established by packaging in vitro, into bacteriophage lambda preheads, of partially restricted yeast DNA fragments ligated to cosmid arms of vector pMT6. About 80% of the clones thus obtained comprise inserts of contiguous genomic DNA over 30 kb in length. Unique DNA probes for the yeast genes CDC10, CDC39, HIS4, LEU2, and PGK1 have successfully been applied when testing for completeness of this library by isolating a series of overlapping cosmid clones that carry the respective genes. The library will thus be useful for the selection of cosmid clones which carry CDC genes from yeast by complementing first, with the vectorial yeast gene URA1, the pyrimidine auxotrophy of most cdc-strains and then, with the respective CDC wild-type genes, of the temperature-sensitive mutant alleles. Most CDC clones thus obtained will provide unique DNA probes which serve as randomly distributed start sequences within the yeast genome for overlap hybridization screening in chromosome mapping studies.

Cell Cycle

Evaluation of a cosmid contig physical map of human chromosome 16.

A cosmid contig physical map of human chromosome 16 has been developed by repetitive sequence finger-printing of approximately 4000 cosmid clones obtained from a chromosome 16-specific cosmid library. The arrangement of clones in contigs is determined by (1) estimating cosmid length and determining the likelihoods for all possible pairwise clone overlaps, using the fingerprint data, and (2) using an optimization technique to fit contig maps to these estimates. Two important questions concerning this contig map are how much of chromosome 16 is covered and how accurate are the assembled contigs. Both questions can be addressed by hybridization of single-copy sequence probes to gridded arrays of the cosmids. All of the fingerprinted clones have been arrayed on nylon membranes so that any region of interest can be identified by hybridization. The hybridization experiments indicate that approximately 84% of the euchromatic arms of chromosome 16 are covered by contigs and singleton cosmids. Both grid hybridization (26 contigs) and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis experiments (11 contigs) confirmed the assembled contigs, indicating that false positive overlaps occur infrequently in the present map. Furthermore, regional localization of 93 contigs and singleton cosmids to a somatic cell hybrid mapping panel indicates that there is no bias in the coverage of the euchromatic arms.

Chromosome Banding

Mapping of 50 cosmid clones isolated from a flow-sorted human X chromosome library by fluorescence in situ hybridization.

Fifty cosmids have been mapped to metaphase chromosomes by fluorescence in situ hybridization under conditions that suppress signals from repetitive DNA sequences. The cosmid clones were isolated from a flow-sorted human X chromosome library. Thirty-eight of the clones were localized to chromosome X and 12 to autosomes such as chromosomes 3, 7, 8, 14, and 17. Although most of the cosmids mapped to the X chromosome appeared to be scattered along both the short and long arms, 10 cosmids were localized to the centromeric region of the chromosome. Southern blot analysis revealed that only two of these clones hybridized to probe pXBR-1, which detects the DXZ1 locus. In addition, 4 out of 5 cosmids mapped on chromosome 8 also localized on the centromeric region. While localization of X-specific cosmids will facilitate the physical mapping of the human X chromosome, cosmids mapped to the centromeric regions of chromosomes X and 8 should be especially useful for studying the structure and organization of these regions.

Blotting, Southern

A recB recC sbcB recJ host prevents recA-independent deletions in recombinant cosmid DNA propagated in Escherichia coli.

Segments of DNA are deleted from recombinant cosmid DNAs with high frequency during propagation in standard recA Escherichia coli hosts. An attempt has been made to derive an appropriate strain of E. coli, suitable for cosmid cloning, in which such deletions do not occur. We examined the effects of a series of host recombinational mutations on the deletion process, using six independent recombinant cosmids that carry inserts of mouse, Chinese hamster, or human DNA. Various E. coli host cells carrying the recombinant cosmids were cultured serially in liquid medium, and the recombinant cosmid DNAs were extracted from the host cells and analyzed by agarose gel electrophoresis and by gene transfer of the DNAs into cultured mammalian cells. Of the mutations examined, only a recB recC sbcB recJ (or recN) quadruple combination of host mutations prevented the deletion of DNA segments. The recombinant cosmid DNAs propagated in E. coli hosts that carried this combination of mutations were functionally as well as structurally intact. We propose that the recJ (and/or recN) gene is involved in some aspect of the events that lead to deletions of cosmid DNA in a recB recC sbcB genetic background.

Bacterial Proteins

Mapping of cosmid clones in Huntington's disease region of chromosome 4.

Huntington's disease (HD) is tightly linked to genetic markers in 4p16.3. We have used a regional somatic cell hybrid mapping panel to isolate and map 25 cosmids to the proximal portion of 4p16.3 and 17 cosmids to the distal portion. The latter were positioned by long-range restriction mapping relative to previously mapped markers. One cosmid, L6 (D4S166), spans the critical breakpoint in the mapping panel that distinguishes proximal and distal 4p16.3. Four of the cosmids mapped distal to D4S90, the previous terminal marker on 4p, and stretched to within 75 kb of the telomere. Several of the cosmids that mapped between L6 and D4S90 were clustered near a number of previously isolated clones in a region with many NotI sites. Cosmid E4 (D4S168) was localized immediately proximal to the one remaining gap in the long-range restriction map of distal 4p16.3. Although pulsed field gel mapping with E4 failed to link the two segments of the map, the intervening gap was excluded as a potential site for the HD gene by genetic analysis.

Chromosome Mapping

Instability of extrachromosomal cosmid DNA in SV40-transformed human (ataxia-telangiectasia) cells.

The ability of SV40-transformed human (ataxia-telangiectasia) fibroblasts to maintain Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-based plasmids and cosmids extrachromosomally has been investigated. Transfection of a culture of cells with two different plasmids gave rise to cell clones which were able to maintain both plasmids extrachromosomally. When an EBV-based cosmid library was transfected into the cells and an individual cell clone was isolated, the extrachromosomal DNA derived from the cosmid contained numerous deletions and rearrangements. When individual cosmids were transfected into the culture, and several cell clones were isolated, the intracellular cosmid-derived DNA again showed the presence of multiple deletions and rearrangements. We conclude that although SV40-transformed cells are able to maintain more than one different EBV-based plasmid extrachromosomally, large EBV-derived molecules are extensively rearranged. SV40-transformed human fibroblasts cannot therefore be usefully used in attempting to clone genes from EBV-based cosmid libraries.

Ataxia Telangiectasia