Polylinker

A polylinker or multiple cloning site ( MCS ) is an artificially created DNA oligonucleotide of around 50 bp which was inserted into a plasmid and the sequence of which contains various restriction cleavage sites for restriction endonucleases .

The polylinker offers the possibility of incorporating foreign DNA into the plasmid with the help of restriction enzymes . It lies in an area that has no essential function for the plasmid. The repeated incorporation of foreign DNA at the same or almost the same location is possible.

Polylinkers enable flexible cloning , since the most suitable ones can be selected and used from the various restriction cleavage sites. The interfaces are unique on the vector and should not occur within the piece of DNA ( insert ) to be cloned . If the DNA to be cloned is generated by means of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), this can be achieved by using oligonucleotides ( primers ) with suitable restriction sites. Another possibility is to remove restriction sites by mutagenesis of the plasmid.

The MCS is part of the standard equipment of an artificially produced plasmid and usually contains 20 or more different interfaces.

literature

• David P. Clark: Molecular Biology - Understanding the Genetic Revolution, The Original with Translation Aids. 1st edition, Elsevier, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-8274-1696-5 .