Most Competent for the Job

Available Competent Cell Lines Invitrogen's One Shot Kit Researchers looking for the ideal competent cell are faced with an interesting dilemma. While there is a vast market of special-function hosts that exhibit a variety and combination of mutations,1 scientists must choose carefully to take full advantage of the options and maintain the increased control that these hosts can provide. In such a market, the genotype says it all. These days, even most of the basic cloning strains are improved

Written byBarbara Cunningham

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Available Competent Cell Lines

Invitrogen's One Shot Kit

Researchers looking for the ideal competent cell are faced with an interesting dilemma. While there is a vast market of special-function hosts that exhibit a variety and combination of mutations,¹ scientists must choose carefully to take full advantage of the options and maintain the increased control that these hosts can provide. In such a market, the genotype says it all.

These days, even most of the basic cloning strains are improved with recA and endA mutations to provide increased plasmid yield and quality. The recA gene is responsible for DNA recombination, and strains that contain a mutation of this gene are particularly useful for cloning sequences containing direct repeats. A mutation in the nonspecific nuclease, Endonuclease I (endA), eliminates nonspecific endonuclease activity, resulting in improved plasmid preparations. Stratagene of La Jolla, Calif., now offers many of its most popular strains in a ...

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