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Concept
Selectable marker
Summary
A selectable marker is a gene introduced into a cell, especially a bacterium or to cells in culture, that confers a trait suitable for artificial selection. They are a type of reporter gene used in laboratory microbiology, molecular biology, and genetic engineering to indicate the success of a transfection or other procedure meant to introduce foreign DNA into a cell. Selectable markers are often antibiotic resistance genes (An antibiotic resistance marker is a gene that produces a protein that provides cells expressing this protein with resistance to an antibiotic.). Bacteria that have been subjected to a procedure to introduce foreign DNA are grown on a medium containing an antibiotic, and those bacterial colonies that can grow have successfully taken up and expressed the introduced genetic material.
Normally the genes encoding resistance to antibiotics such as ampicillin, chloramphenicol, tetracycline or kanamycin, etc., are considered useful selectable markers for E. coli.
The non-recombinants are separated from recombinants; i.e., a r-DNA is introduced in bacteria, some bacteria are successfully transformed some remain non-transformed. When grown on medium containing ampicillin, bacteria die due to lack of ampicillin resistance. The position is later noted on nitrocellulose paper and separated out to move them to nutrient medium for mass production of required product.
An alternative to a selectable marker is a screenable marker which can also be denoted as a reporter gene, which allows the researcher to distinguish between wanted and unwanted cells, e.g. between blue and white colonies. These wanted or unwanted cells are simply un-transformed cells that were unable to take up the gene during the experiment.
For molecular biology research different types of markers may be used based on the selection sought. These include:
Positive or selection markers are selectable markers that confer selective advantage to the host organism. An example would be antibiotic resistance, which allows the host organism to survive antibiotic selection.
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