Cloning vectors

• You may be surprised to know that we have learnt the lesson of transferring genes into plants and animals from bacteria and viruses which have known this for ages – how to deliver genes to transform eukaryotic cells and force them to do what the bacteria or viruses want.
• For example, Agrobacterioum tumifaciens, a pathogen of several dicot plants is able to deliver a piece of DNA known as ‘T-DNA’ to transform normal plant cells into a tumor and direct these tumor cells to produce the chemicals required by the pathogen.
• Similarly, retroviruses in animals have the ability to transform normal cells into cancerous cells.
• A better understanding of the art of delivering genes by pathogens in their eukaryotic hosts has generated knowledge to transform these tools of pathogens into useful vectors for delivering genes of interest to humans.
• The tumor inducing (Ti) plasmid of AgrobcLCterium tumifaciens has now been modified into a cloning vector which is no more pathogenic to the plants but is still able to use the mechanisms to deliver genes of our interest into a variety of plants.
• Similarly, retroviruses have also been disarmed and are now used to deliver desirable genes into animal cells.
• So, once a gene or a DNA fragment has been ligated into a suitable vector it is transferred into a bacterial, plant or animal host (where it multiplies).
• Plasmids and bacteriophages [vectors] have the ability to replicate within bacterial cells independent of the control of chromosomal DNA.