A Gateway® compatible vector for gene silencing in bloodstream form Trypanosoma brucei

RNA interference is the most rapid method for generation of conditional knockdown mutants in Trypanosoma brucei. The dual T7 promoter (pZJM) and the stem-loop vectors have been widely used to generate stable inducible RNAi cell lines with the latter providing tighter regulatory control. However, the steps for cloning stem-loop constructs are cumbersome requiring either multiple cloning steps or multi-fragment ligation reactions. We report the development of a vector (pTrypRNAiGate) derived from pLEW100 that utilizes the Gateway® recombination system to facilitate easy production of hairpin RNA constructs. This approach allows the final stem-loop RNAi construct to be generated from a single cloning step of the PCR-derived gene fragment followed by an in vitro recombination reaction. The new vector facilitates high-throughput applications for gene silencing and provides a tool for functional genomics in T. brucei.