GoldBricks: an improved cloning strategy that combines features of Golden Gate and BioBricks for better efficiency and usability

Abstract

Abstract With increasing complexity of expression studies and the repertoire of characterized sequences, combinatorial cloning has become a common necessity. Techniques like BioBricks and Golden Gate aim to standardize and speed up the process of cloning large constructs while enabling sharing of resources. The BioBricks format provides a simplified and flexible approach to endless assembly with a compact library and useful intermediates but is a slow process, joining only two parts in a cycle. Golden Gate improves upon the speed with use of Type IIS enzymes and joins several parts in a cycle but requires a larger library of parts and logistical inefficiencies scale up significantly in the multigene format. We present here a method that provides improvement over these techniques by combining their features. By using Type IIS enzymes in a format like BioBricks, we have enabled a faster and efficient assembly with reduced scarring, which performs at a similarly fast pace as Golden Gate, but significantly reduces library size and user input. Additionally, this method enables faster assembly of operon-style constructs, a feature requiring extensive workaround in Golden Gate. Our format allows such inclusions resulting in faster and more efficient assembly.