Plasmid capture systems (PCS) facilitate cloning and manipulation of circular double-stranded DNA. We recently developed an improved PCS (PCS-LZ) to clone relatively large DNA molecules of 30-150 kb. The PCS-LZ donor consists of a mini-F replicon and a kanamycin resistance marker between Tn7 left and Tn7 right ends. Both the replicon and marker gene of the PCS-LZ donor are transferred into target plasmid DNAs by in vitro transposition, followed by replication in E. coli. Colonies are tested for lacZ expression by blue/white screening. Circular DNAs were obtained from plasmids of Bacillus thuringiensis, genome segments of Cotesia glomerata bracovirus and polymorphic genomes of Autographa californica nucleopolyhedrovirus. PCS-LZ is a powerful tool for use in genomic analysis and mutagenesis in invertebrate pathology, and we are extending its application to include vertebrate research.

• Jong Yul Roh(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University)
• Yong Wang(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University)
• Qin Liu(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University)
• Xueying Tao(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University)
• Jae Young Choi(Research Institute for Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University)
• Hee Jin Shim(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University)
• Hong Guang Xu(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University)
• Seungdon Lee(On Farm Research Division, Rural Development Administration)
• Soo Dong Woo(Department of Agricultural Biology, Chungbuk National University)
• Byung Rae Jin(College of Natural Resources and Life Science, Dong-A University)
• Yeon Ho Je(Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, Seoul National University)