Escherichia coli XL10-gold bacteria produce bacteriophage

An In Vitro Single-Primer Site-Directed Mutagenesis Method for Use in Biotechnology

Site-directed mutagenesis is a powerful method to introduce mutation(s) into DNA sequences. A number of methods have been developed over the years with a main goal being to create a high number of mutant genes. The single-mutagenic primer method for site-directed mutagenesis is the most direct method that yields mutant genes in about 25-50 % of transformants in a robust, low-cost reaction. The supercompetent XL10-Gold bacteria used in the Stratagene protocol carry a phage, which may be a problem for some applications; however, in our single-mutagenic primer method the supercompetent bacteria are not needed. A thermostable DNA polymerase with high fidelity and processivity, such as Phusion DNA polymerase, is required for our optimized procedure to avoid extra mutation(s) and enhance mutagenic efficiency.