Engineering adenovirus genome by bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) technology

Bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs) are recombinant DNA molecules designed for propagation of large and instable foreign DNA fragment in Escherichia coli. BACs are used in genetics of large DNA viruses such as herpes and baculoviruses for propagation and manipulation of complex genomic regions or even entire viral genomes in one piece. Viral genomes in BACs are ready for the advanced tools of E. coli genetics. These techniques based on homologous or site-specific recombination allow engineering of virtually any kind of genetic changes. In the recent years, BAC technology was also adapted to manipulation of adenovirus genomes and became an effective alternative to traditional genetic engineering of recombinant adenoviruses.