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PlasmidMaker is a versatile, automated, and high throughput end-to-end platform for plasmid construction
Behnam Enghiad1,2, Pu Xue1,2, Nilmani Singh1
1Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA.
Nature Communications
|May 16, 2022
Summary
We developed PlasmidMaker, an automated platform for rapid, error-free plasmid construction. This high-throughput system simplifies the creation of complex plasmids, accelerating synthetic biology research.
Area of Science:
- Synthetic Biology
- Molecular Biology
- Biotechnology
Background:
- Plasmid design and construction are critical but time-consuming bottlenecks in biological research.
- Complex genetic information requires sophisticated and often laborious plasmid assembly methods.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop an automated, high-throughput platform for efficient and error-free plasmid construction.
- To overcome the limitations of traditional methods in creating complex plasmids.
Main Methods:
- Development of PlasmidMaker, an end-to-end automated platform.
- Utilized Pyrococcus furiosus Argonaute (PfAgo)-based artificial restriction enzymes for DNA assembly.
- Integrated a user-friendly frontend for plasmid design and a backend for workflow automation and robotic integration.
Main Results:
- Successfully generated 101 plasmids ranging from 5 to 18 kb.
- Constructed plasmids from up to 11 DNA fragments across six different species.
- Demonstrated high-throughput, error-free plasmid construction capability.
Conclusions:
- PlasmidMaker significantly accelerates plasmid construction, reducing time and labor.
- The platform enhances the potential for complex synthetic biology applications.
- Automated plasmid synthesis is a key advancement for biological research.
