Cloning and Heterologous Expression of Protein-Coding Sequences in Escherichia coli

Abstract

Recombinant protein expression is widely used to produce large quantities of protein for diverse uses including functional characterization of selected sequences and vaccination trials. In the postgenomic era, high-throughput techniques that allow us to manipulate several sequences are needed. Cloning by in vivo recombination is a technique that consists in the insertion of a linear DNA into a linearized plasmid DNA by in vivo recombination using a recA+ E. coli strain. This methodology provides high-throughput cloning with high efficiency without the need for restriction enzyme digestion. In this chapter, we describe two protocols for DNA cloning: one using in vivo recombination and the other by using restriction enzymes. We also describe the application of different conditions to produce functional proteins that needs the incorporation of the amino acid selenocysteine (Sec), like thioredoxin-glutathione reductase enzyme.