The P1 vector system for the preparation and screening of genomic libraries

In retrospect, it is remarkable how swiftly the P1 cloning system has progressed in only a few years from a novel cloning system to one now widely used for the production of recombinant libraries and the building of physical maps. As the libraries become larger, better characterized and more widely distributed, we certainly will see a blossoming of research articles and techniques based on the use of P1 recombinant clones. Specifically, we can look forward to scanning P1 clones for expressed sequences (N. Sternberg, personal communication), routine retrofitting of P1 clones with a combination of transposon and P1 transduction techniques (3), the random or loxP-directed (68,69) insertion of P1 clones into host genomes and the subsequent production of transgenic animals (63), a further use of P1 clones in the building of contigs and physical maps, an a higher in vitro cloning efficiency due to the purification of the P1 pacase proteins used during in vitro packaging (70). In summary, P1 bacteriophage cloning is favorably impacting research today and will continue to fill an important niche as a genomic cloning system.