A NEW, RAPID AND SIMPLE PROCEDURE FOR DIRECT CLONING OF PCR PRODUCTS INTO BACULOVIRUSES

We propose a novel method for direct cloning of foreign genes into bac uloviruses which avoids the use of bacterial transfer vectors. The for eign gene to be inserted is derived by PCR using appropriate primers e ach of which contains an additional 50 nt of baculovirus sequence for homologous recombination between the PCR-derived DNA and the baculovir us DNA, thus accomplishing insertion of the foreign gene into the bacu lovirus, The direct cloning of green fluorescent protein and beta-gluc uronidase in different baculovirus loci is described, The method is si mple and avoids the use of cumbersome techniques associated with enzym atic treatment and DNA purification.