Compartmentalized self-replication: a novel method for the directed evolution of polymerases and other enzymes

Compartmentalized self-replication (CSR) is a novel method for the directed evolution of enzymes and, in particular, polymerases. In its simplest form, CSR consists of a simple feedback loop involving a polymerase that replicates only its own encoding gene (self-replication). Self-replication occurs in discrete, spatially separate, noncommunicating compartments formed by a heat-stable water-in-oil emulsion. Compartmentalization ensures the linkage of phenotype and genotype (i.e., it ensures that each polymerase replicates only its own encoding gene to the exclusion of those in the other compartments). As a result, adaptive gains by the polymerase directly (and proportionally) translate into genetic amplification of the encoding polymerase gene. CSR has proven to be a useful strategy for the directed evolution of polymerases directly from diverse repertoires of polymerase genes. In this chapter, we describe some of the CSR protocols used successfully to evolve variants of T. aquaticus Pol I (Taq) polymerase with novel and useful properties, such as increased thermostability or resistance to the potent inhibitor, heparin, from a repertoire of randomly mutated Taq polymerase genes.